


What Once Was Mine

by PaperxPens



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Adira and Hector TRY THEIR BEST, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Angry Varian (Disney), Angst, Brotherhood of the Dark Kingdom (Disney), Character Death, Episode: s01e21 Secret of the Sundrop, Future Dadgene, Gen, Hurt Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, IDK how to use Ao3 but I try, Let me know if you like it or hate it, Moondrop | Moonstone Opal (Disney), Parent Quirin (Disney), Parenthood, Post-Episode: s01e21 Secret of the Sundrop, Protective Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, Rapunzel dies, She just straight up gets murked, Sundrop | Sundrop Flower (Disney), Team Awesome (Disney: Tangled), The Dark Kingdom (Disney: Tangled), Uh yeah first fanfic, Varian Angst (Disney), Varian Has Issues (Disney), Varian Redemption (Disney), Varian has daddy issues, Varian is very stressed but what else is new, Varian whump, Yeah I killed her
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 50,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25922206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaperxPens/pseuds/PaperxPens
Summary: Tangled AU where Rapunzel dies in SOTS due to not being able to control the black rocks. The Sundrop is returned to flower form and Eugene must take Varian on a journey to the Dark Kingdom in order to use the Moonstone's powers to bring her back. However, unbeknownst to Eugene, Varian had fabricated the possibility of bringing Rapunzel back from the dead in fear of going to prison and doesn't actually know if it will work.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 74
Kudos: 126





	1. Path Paved In Black

**Author's Note:**

> AN// Yeah remember when I was like "idk if I'll ever write a full fanfic" well turns out I'm a liar. I tried my best on this but if it sucks let me know and I won't write more  
> But if you like it and want me to write more, also let me know! Any feedback is appreciated  
> I have no idea how to use Ao3 but uh- share it? Likes? IDk how anything works here but yeah, thanks for clicking

“That’s enough, Varian!”

The voice of the blonde-haired Princess cut through the heavy air of battle. Automatrons wired with mechanical noise as they robotically faced off against the troops of Corona. In the midst of the chaos, the largest of them with distinct blood tinted windows turned towards the command. Thickly gloved hands clenched around the controls, levers, and buttons that allowed the machine to act as an extension and outlet of his own pent up anguish and rage. The machine with the strength to do what he could not, the brawn to his brains.

“It’s not enough!” His voice had a hint of an animalistic growl, usually large and wonder-filled blue eyes narrowed into slits overflowing with hatred. “Until you endure the same amount of _pain_ and _agony_ I have!”

There was no turning back, he wouldn’t turn his back as they did. The battle raged on around them, their standoff the eye of the hurricane. The pathetic promising Princess who had the entire kingdom fooled into her little facade. The solution and the cause of his plight. She had fooled everyone, but her deceptive kindness had cracked that night. Her true self had revealed and he alone could see who she really was. His eyes locked, the goal was clear. His jaw clenched back the hateful words he wished to spit at her, all the venom-filled sentences he fantasized saying. He wouldn’t be like her. Unlike her, he would put action behind his words, he would act, he would do something to make a difference.

Lunging forwards, the Automatron dropped to all fours and barreled across the landscape adorned with the jagged black rocks that wreaked havoc through Old Corona. The rocks that had torn his life into pieces. Not that anyone other than Varian cared. She didn’t care about anyone except herself, well he was about to destroy everything she had, everything she loved. It was only fair.

An odd sense of calm washed over Rapunzel as she descended the steps of the alchemist’s home. The bricks, worn from years of travel and tread, were cool under her bare feet. The rocks called out to her, tugging at something deep inside, a force that she didn’t understand herself. It was a calming call, a call for salvation. Green eyes met the red with rage ones charging towards her, a hand reached out. For a second, a thought crossed her mind. Maybe if she reached out for him all those nights ago things would be different. Maybe if she had given him something to hold on to, someone to hold onto, things would be different. Maybe she still could. 

Cries of terror from her family and friends forcibly pulled her out of wishful thinking. No, it was too late, this was the price she must pay no matter the cost. It was only fair.

Fingers pressed against the smooth inky black surface, only for it to seemingly come alive with a criss-cross pattern of electric blue. Power flowed through her body, consuming her mind and reducing her to a mere vessel with one goal, not too different from the creations of the Alchemist that she was defending against. In orderly but rapid succession, the sharpened rocks jetted out of the terrain under the command of some force greater than the girl with golden hair. She cried out in sheer agony as the searing pain of thousands of years’ worth of power overtook her. A loud screeching of metal, then another, then another as the automaton was ripped limb by limb. 

The final finishing blow through the heart.

“NO!”

Two grief-stricken cries cut through the air. One from the villainous alchemist as his creations fell apart once again like they always did. The other came from the battlefield, the field ominously quiet as metal ruins lay pierced with the rocks. A lone figure broke the frozen atmosphere, desperately running with arms outstretched for the one person out of his grasp. All eyes gradually drifted towards the center of the landscape. 

Back arched and bare feet pointed towards the ground in the middle of a mess of brunette hair, their savior, their Princess, his love laid defeated by the object she desperately used to protect them. Her arms hung limply at her side, mouth slightly agape. A large spike shot its way through her chest, holding her suspended above the earth. Her pose was as if her soul was lurching out of her chest towards the sky, leaving nothing but a hollow body behind. But her eyes, her eyes bore their way into Eugene’s mind. Stretched open in timeless terror, was it possible that she knew what would happen? Did she know the risk?

“S-sunshine!”

His boots skidded slightly in the dirt, shaky hand cupped cold freckled skin that used to bring him so much warmth. Used to have so much life. Her eyes, he hadn’t seen so much terror in her eyes since the day he nearly lost her forever. Now he was the one losing her, and they were both without magical hair to restore a life that slipped away. The tears that fell upon her cheeks were not blessed with healing powers. The dream was gone.

Varian winced as a grief-filled scream cut through the air, cupping his ears as his shaky legs made a dash towards his workshop. Maybe there was still a chance, maybe he could still find a way. He could talk, he could negotiate. His life for his father’s. This wasn’t an attempt to run, to sneak through the cracks, and avoid punishment. Varian was well aware of what he had signed up for, he just wanted to see his father one last time before… before he’d never see the world beyond the walls of a prison cell again.

Boots skipped up the cracked stones, the door already ajar. Faint yellow light sent jagged reflections across the wall. Varian stood in the shadow of the man who raised him, who fell because of him. The actions leading up to that moment felt all too familiar, all that was missing was a backdrop of snow and wind.

“Dad I-“ His voice shook, how could he defend himself this time? “I’m sorry. But at- but at least when you’re free, you’ll never have to see me again. You never said it but, I knew how much you wanted that.”

A final shaky breath as he turned to finish his journey on the path he chose, the path of hate had a bitter end. Though, just as he was about to complete the final few steps towards fate, a different sort of golden light caught his attention.

“Impossible.”

A breathy gasp of wonder left his body as the golden glow of the legendary Sundrop Flower gained strength. The glittery petals reformed from the air and regained their unwilted appearance, the stem extended and the flower itself almost floated as it stood upright on the wooden surface. His awe was cut off as footsteps thundered behind him.

“There he is!” Eugene’s voice, hoarse from screaming in agony, ordered fiercely. An accusing finger pointing at the disheveled boy. Guards in golden armor hurried into the room, following the command as they harshly grabbed him by the wrists and shoulders. Varian didn’t expect himself to protest, he hadn’t planned on it. But this was different. This was hope.

“Wa-wait! Wait! Please wait!” He cried and squirmed and somehow managed to squeeze through the squadron of guards towards him. The man he once looked at with infatuation. A hero who used to look at him with the same gaze of an older brother, now his eyes were cold and furious. Varian knew the feeling. “Eugene please, just listen.”

“Why should I! Look at what you’ve done!” Even Eugene didn’t expect such harshness and rage in his tone, looking down at the hand he used to gesture he saw it shaking. Varian had winced and stepped back at the harsh moment, unable to hide his fear. The man’s voice shook like his hand, unable to contain his grief as the sound tore through the air. “You- this is all your fault! You took her from me!”

He lunged forwards, he was going to tear this kid to pieces like his Automatrons. He was going to meet the same fate as his creations. It was only fair. White gloved hands held him back, all pointing to the miraculous flower on the work table. The flower he stole.

“Eugene, please! Please! I can fix this! I can- I can bring her back!” What was he saying? How could he bring her back when he couldn’t even undo his own experiment? When he couldn’t even bring his father back?

“What are you saying, kid?” The past affectionate nickname held so much malice that Varian winced just at the tone.

“Rap- the Princess was the embodiment of the Sundrop, r-right?” His words fumbled over each other as his hand rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He was backed into a corner, physically and metaphorically. And talking would be his only way out. “An-and whatever force is calling her is a force of equal power. Well, we have the Sundrop’s power here.” He gestured to the plant. “It must have returned to its original earthy form after- after.” He couldn’t say it.

“After she died protecting us from you.” The man growled, finishing his implication. Varian could only nod in response. Taking a breath, Eugene straightened and the guards took their hands off of him. Varian bit back a feeling of fear as Eugene’s eyes narrowed in icy cold calculation. “This opposite force. Can it bring her back?”

“Well I mean- I don’t really have any informati- but theoretically-“

He was interrupted by Eugene’s fist meeting the stone wall, posture slouched slightly. Varian noticed the grime, the sweat, and dirt from battle, with tear carved streaks along his cheeks.

“Can it bring her back, Hairstripe?! Answer me!”

“Y-yes! Yes, it can. It can bring her back!” Varian sputtered out in desperation. Oh god, what was he saying? What was he thinking? The truth, he wasn’t.

“Send him to prison and prepare me a caravan,” Eugene growled, turning around to leave the accursed home before a plea caused him to stop in his tracks.

“Wait! Wait! Eugene, you need me! I-I’m the only one who knows enough about the Sundrop to bring her back. Any- any error and she could be gone for good. I can- I can help!”

“You’ve helped enough! Do you honestly think I want your help?!” He gestured to the large growth of translucent yellow rock in the center of the room. “This is what happens when you try to help!”

Varian gulped and bit back a sob, he was right. Of course, he was. Everywhere the young boy went, tragedy followed him like a shadow. Putting on a cracked mask, a brave face, he gulped. Nothing to lose.

“Well, how do you plan to bring her back, huh? You don’t know anything about this- this force or alchemy at all! You wouldn’t have even thought of bringing her back if it weren’t for me!”

Varian watched as the man stiffened, he knew that pose. That reluctant shift in stance as they processed what he said. He had seen it all too often. Eugene turned and motioned for the guard, taking two pairs of handcuffs from one of them. Varian felt a shiver run up his spine.

“Take care of the wounded and prepare me a caravan with enough supplies for a two-person journey.” The guards nodded and left with the sound of metal clanging together. Varian shrank as a shadow loomed over him. Eugene roughly grabbed his wrists and pulled him closer to tighten the heavy metal cuffs. His movements were jerky, restraining his limbs from forcibly squeezing out what little life was left in the boy. He then knelt onto the dusty floor to secure another pair of shackles to the boy’s ankles. 

“In case you get any ideas about running.” His voice was a low growl, Varian nodded and shrank against the wall. “Stay here. You move one inch,” hands grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground, face to face. “I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done. Then and there.”

With that, the boy was dropped into a heap and curled up on to his side in despair. What had he gotten himself into? Shaking, he closed his eyes. Maybe this was all a terrible nightmare, a very long dream. No. The dream was gone.

Defeated but moving forwards with a new purpose, Eugene approached his companions who had been anxiously hovering by the door. Cassandra, who was finally given a chance to prove her worth to everyone around her, including herself. Lance, whose heart and loyalty wouldn't stray even when he had all he could ever want in Corona. Eugene couldn't ask them to go on this fool’s journey and leave behind all that they knew, all that they had. 

“Cass- Lance I-“ Cassandra held up a hand and cut him off, and for once, Eugene allowed it.

“I have a feeling my father will need some help with the royal guard here Fitzherbert.” Her eyes looked down at the ground before she reached out and gently punched his shoulder. “Do what you gotta do for her.”

With a final smile, the woman turned to help organize the troops, at last, she was in the position she knew she was meant for.

“Buddy, I-“

“Lance I have to do this alone, I can’t ask you to leave all this behind.” Eugene reasoned and watched his friend deflate slightly, but give him a soft smile.

“I was just going to wish you good luck, bud.” His hand rested on Eugene’s upper arm and for a second, it felt like everything could be okay. Eugene’s lips tugged into a smile as his hand reached across and rested upon the same spot.

“Now don‘t miss me too much, you hear me? Blondie and I will be back before you know it.” His heart yearned to believe the words coming out of his mouth, maybe if he believed it wouldn’t hurt so badly. Maybe if he had, if he had faith. But all his faith was in Rapunzel. All his faith was gone.

The guards were quick to bring him the caravan with two horses, Max and Fidella, ready to take them down the path ahead. Eugene roughly pushed the boy into the seat, his other hand clutching a jar with his Sunshine inside. He guarded the jar carefully, this was his last chance. Farewells were hasty, it was too difficult to keep up the illusion of hope. Rapunzel was always the hopeful one, the optimistic one, the light.

The boy hugged his knees to his chest as he sat upon the wooden seat, brown leather backpack beside him. He tried to take up as little space as possible, cramming his limbs into himself. Eyes stared straight ahead, once filled with fiery emotion now dull. A shiver ran up his spine as he remembered being escorted past the body as it was taken away by the guards. Ignoring the jeers from the crowd, well deserving shouts of belittlement, he ducked his head down. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could disappear into himself and the black pit of a heart he now had. The caravan creaked slightly as the man sat down next to him, placing the jarred specimen on the side away from Varian. 

“I’ll find a way to bring her back! I promise!” Eugene called out to the crowd, his voice breaking ever so slightly. Eyes diverted from the looks of anguish and hope, flicking the reins.

The caravan’s wheels turned with the steady tread of the horses, and as they started on their journey down the path paved in black, the sun started to rise.


	2. All's Not Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The distance between Eugene and Varian couldn't be wider as they begin their trip to the source of power. With Eugene still grieving over the loss of Rapunzel and Varian too terrified to speak, the trip has been grueling for both of them. Over an open campfire, the two realize the possibility that all's not lost between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// So I've decided to continue this story and I'm actually getting into it so that's fun. I hope you guys enjoy and yeah feedback is welcome. Prepare for the angst

The journey ahead was grueling for the young alchemist. Seemingly endless travel while sitting upon a rough and splinter filled seat. The uneven path caused the caravan to dip and shake with the subtle but persistent din of squeaky wheels and horses. Though, despite the noise that kept him up at night and the heavy chains that dug into his skin leaving it raw and red, refusing to relinquish him to the blissful release of sleep, the heavy silence is what tore at his soul. What was left of his soul anyway.

His companion? Captor? Savior? Eugene sat stiffly beside him, clearly making an effort to maximize the space between the two. Not that he had much work to do, the wall of words left unsaid between them as well as Varian’s backpack seemed to do the trick. The air was heavy with thoughts from both parties, emotions of fear, apologies that failed to be uttered, even minute questions and comments were reduced to gestures and grunts on occasion. Varian didn’t know what to say, too terrified to say anything or even think about what happened all that time ago. How long had they been on the road? He couldn’t remember. Between uneasy short-lived sleep and long painfully awkward waking moments, time seemed to pass both rapidly and agonizingly slow. They had just passed the city of Vardaros a few days ago, the name stuck out in his mind as he remembered news articles of the “rogue Flynn Rider” causing havoc there. He had idolized that man, and now that same man despised him for good reason. Varian had turned to him when they passed through, wanting to break that barrier of quiet to ask about his tales there, though upon seeing the man’s face, a face he had been avoiding for most of the trip, he had fallen quiet and turned away quickly.

Sunken in eyes and cheeks, eyebags heavy with fatigue and lips pressed into a thin frown seemed to linger on Eugene’s previously life filled face. His eyes would have a glaze over them like he was remembering better days. Varian knew the feeling and the look. He wasn’t sure when the man slept, or if he slept at all. Whenever Varian was awake so was Eugene, only stopping their travels to allow the horses to briefly rest before continuing. As a result, they kept a slow but steady march forwards.

However, like everything, that pace had to end soon enough as exhaustion pulled at the horses and stopped them in their tracks. They weren’t the only ones. Eugene’s fingers ached from clenching the reins continuously for days on end, his vision blurred and grew hazy white at the edges from lack of sleep. How could he stop? How could he ever rest when she wasn’t with them anymore? She wasn’t just down the hall in her room, asleep and safe, nor was she in town with the people. She was gone and what was left of her was six feet under by now. She was gone and so was his purpose, his joy in life, his dream. Pulling himself out of his fatigue induced spiral proved harder each day, though the caravan’s sudden halt one night jerked him from restless delusions.

“What is it, Max?”

The sound of his voice shocked both himself and the boy next to him. He had assumed Varian was asleep, though his head jolted upright at the question, alert within seconds. Max whinnied indignantly, and it was right then that Eugene realized his poor treatment of all his companions on the trip. He had been so lost and overcome in his own grief that he had nearly strayed from life as well. Rapunzel wouldn’t have wanted this. Getting off of the seat and climbing down, he stretched his sore legs and back for a second before walking over to the horse and offering an apple as a meager apology, long overdue. Although Max took the fruit and Fidella as well, it was clear that the two were exhausted from their trek. Gently, Eugene lifted a hand to stroke the horses’ necks, patting them as he glanced around and noticed a stream off the forest path.

“Tell you what,” He turned and his gaze rested on Varian for the first time since he had hauled the kid into the caravan. The boy before him was a far cry from the one he last met in Corona, and even farther from the one who greeted him with giddy joy in his home and shared with him his secrets. His shoulders and eyes softened ever so slightly but remained alert, unwilling to let his walls fall just yet. “Why don’t we stop for the night and sleep on solid ground?”

Varian piped up at the thought, desperate to be off of the motion sickness-inducing wagon. Clambering over himself, he struggled against the heavy metal binding his limbs but eventually made it down. His knees nearly gave way as they met the dirt, and he stretched his achy muscles as Eugene led the horses and caravan to the edge of the stream before unhitching them and tying the reins to an overhanging tree branch. Varian’s gloved hand reached out to grab his backpack before shrinking away. Maybe Eugene would feel better if he didn’t have his alchemy on him. Sighing, his shoulders drooped and shrunk his stance as Varian made his way over and sat far from the group against a tree trunk. He was used to hanging on the outskirts, to sitting on the sidelines while waiting for an invitation that never came.

That was what happened whenever he dared to try and play with the neighborhood kids. Alchemy and solitude always seemed to come easier for him, not that the other children ever gave him a chance to join in. He didn’t know why or what, but he knew that something, something about him was broken. Something about him was defective.

Blue eyes watched the man start to collect sticks to presumably fuel a fire. A fire? Varian hopped up, forgetting the weight that rested on his wrists and ankles for a second. The metal around him clinked noisily as he stood. He noticed Eugene’s flinch and reach for the sword he had been keeping on him, the look he gave him was similar to that given to a wild animal. It struck Varian then, Eugene feared him.

He pushed the thought out of his mind, the shame and guilt that followed were buried as he scurried to his backpack and reached inside, pulling out a small vial of powder. Walking slower towards the campsite, he uncorked the bottle and gently sprinkled a bit of the contents atop the sticks. Within seconds a flame ignited and so did a small spark in Eugene’s eye. Was he annoyed? Relieved? Impressed?

Varian couldn’t tell for sure what emotion Eugene was feeling, he was just glad that it didn’t seem outright negative. Not that he deserved anything better. He was lucky enough that his current view was of a dark forest, rather than a cold and musty prison cell.

“It- uh it shouldn’t need tending for the night. Tha-that is unless I messed things up again, no surprise there, and then, then it would probably need tending.” Varian muttered to himself and turned to put the vial away. His voice was quiet and hesitant when he spoke, jittery. Tucking the vial back into his bag’s pocket, he was about to return to the site before a slight rumble in his stomach reminded him that the two hadn’t eaten that day. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched the man wash his face in the river. Was he just cleansing himself of dirt and dust, or was he also attempting to wash away the effects of pain and anguish? When he brought the water to his face was he hoping that it would help him forget the battlefield and the toll the present had taken? The effects that Varian himself caused.

Biting his lip to hold back a string of apologies, he turned and headed towards the back of the caravan. They would have to stop and get food eventually, but he knew of travel foods that could keep for many weeks. Opening the back doors, a jolt of terror cut through him as his eyes caught movement in the dark.

“E-Eugene? There’s somethin-” He cried out in fear, having forgotten that Eugene probably wanted to avoid hearing him speak in his terror. A ball of gray and black dashed out of the darkness and towards him. Feet tangled over chains and sent him falling backward with the warm fuzzy creature clinging to his face. “Wha- I? Ruddiger?!” He cried out in a mixture of confusion and joy, the first time he felt any sense of happiness in weeks, as his companion chittered in response and squirmed out of his hands. Varian picked himself up and stood, allowing the raccoon to scurry up his leg and find a comfortable spot draped across his neck. For the first time in forever, things felt like they weren’t so terrible.

Grabbing the closest wrapped bundle of cloth he could, Varian shut the doors to the caravan and made his way back to the stream, attempting to dust himself off from his tumble. The air of distrust felt heavy as he placed the bundle next to the fire and unwrapped it. Taking a few strips of salted beef and dehydrated fruit before returning to his spot at the tree. He noticed that Eugene had taken the flower from the caravan’s seat while he was getting the food, and was holding it closely as he ate. Varian looked away, remembering the nights he would spend curled up on the floor of his workshop against the amber, trying desperately to feel any sense of comfort. 

Ruddiger’s chitters brought him back from the caverns of his mind as the mammal reached out for some of his dinner. Obliging, he broke off a piece of dried apple and handed it to him, fresh fruit was running low as it was and who knows how much the little trouble maker had eaten on his journey hidden in the caravan. 

The fire cracked and sputtered but remained strong and didn’t seem to burn through the wood as quickly as it would have normally, to Varian’s relief. For once his experiments didn’t blow up in his face, for once something actually worked. For once, he did something good. Leaning back against the rough tree bark, he let out a wistful sigh as Ruddiger curled up on his lap. His hand rested on top of his friend and, shockingly, he felt at ease enough to drift into sleep. Or maybe that was the toll of weeks of restless nights catching up with him.

Eugene watched the two from his place by the fire, then turned to make sure the horses were taken care of and settled. His attention drifted back over to the kid who surprised him in appearance. Eugene didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but it wasn’t this. What once was a scrappy but endearing child, then a crazed monster was now just a broken, battered, boy. A boy capable of unspeakable things, but at the end of the day, he was a kid who had lost his way. Who was so torn and tired from the world letting him fall through the cracks that he turned against the world. He had decided to stop fighting against what everyone thought of him, it was easier that way. Eugene could understand, he could remember.

“Sunshine I-” His voice cracked as he picked up the jar containing the little purpose he still had in this earthly realm. Taking in a breath, he licked his chapped lips before continuing, “I promise you, I promise that I’ll bring you back. Whatever way I can I- I’ll see you again. I promise.” Biting back a sob, he hung his head.

“I’m sorry, so, so sorry that I couldn’t protect you.” He let out a pained laugh and smile as teary eyes rose to gaze at the glowing flower, the light mixing with the light of the fire. In the hazy brightness, it was almost like he could see the battlefield once more, the harsh green glow of the Automatrons, how her hair had gleamed before fading. Before she faded. The back of his fingers turned to rest on the glass as if they were caressing a face, her face. “You spent so much of your life protecting and helping others and- and when you needed to be protected I failed you. I fai-”

His words broke off into heavy sobs as his head ducked down between his knees. The man kept shaking his head, unable to look up at the flower in his grief-filled pain. Shoulders shook as his hands desperately held onto what was left of what he had lost. What once was his.

Tear filled cries were muffled as he put the jar down and covered his mouth with his hand. Pushing the tears back, pushing the sobs back, he pushed the pain away for now. He couldn’t afford to feel yet because he couldn’t guarantee that he’d be able to continue the journey after giving into grief. It was best to repress the sorrow for now. Lifting his face to regain his composure, he drew in a sharp breath. “I know you wouldn’t want me to feel this way, Sunshine. You’d- you’d tell me that I did what I could. You’d make me smile and- and feel better.” 

He shrugged at the jar before getting up to wash his face yet again, this time trying to wash away the feeling of remorse as well as what remained of his breakdown. Water from the stream removed the tear stains on his cheeks, but not the feeling of hopelessness within. Running a hand through his hair and pushing it back, his boots dragged along the dirt. He was just about to sit down before a sound caught his attention, a cry separated from the noises and clamor of the forest. 

“W-wait! Wait please!” 

Eugene couldn’t help but be reminded of the same cries the day his life turned for the worse. The same desperate begs coming from the same boy when he had pleaded for a second chance they both knew he did not deserve, this time from the depths of sleep. Looking up across the fire, he watched as night terrors seemed to grip the child and cause him to twist and turn as if he were locked in an intense battle with some invisible evil. A battle he was losing. It was harder to fight against something that wasn’t physical, something that couldn’t be stopped no matter how hard you fought. It was harder to fight against your mind.

“No- ngh.” Varian’s brow was furrowed and slick with sweat, images flashed behind his closed eyelids then solidified from his frantic thoughts. His father loomed over him, staring at him with his harsh eyes like always. His father? Freed from the amber? 

_Dad! Dad I- How?_

Quirin’s eyes narrowed as Varian raced towards him, his limbs freed from the chains somehow. He’d worry about that later, that didn’t matter now. Now all he needed to do was to give his father a long-overdue hug. His face had been sunken for so long he nearly forgot how to smile, but there it was again, and more joy than he ever felt in his life. A laugh escaped his lips, a relief filled sound that lifted him upwards.

_You’re okay! Da-_

An unexpected blow to his side knocked him off his feet, the force caused him to slide across the dusty floor of his workroom and into the wall. Papers were knocked off and his breath choked out of his chest. Lifting himself up onto his hands, the joy drained out of his face and was replaced with terror as his father stood over him. Roughly, Quirin’s hands gripped the front of Varian’s blue button-up and yanked the boy up, slamming him into the wall against papers marked up with notes about the amber and black rocks. The boy was forced to stare into the eyes that plagued his memories, those hard eyes always filled with shame and embarrassment every time they landed upon him. Just once, once, he wished to see some sort of pride in them. Just the smallest hint of pride.

_Don’t call me Dad!_ He growled, Varian shrank away and ducked his head. He couldn’t bear to see that look again, that look sent shivers up his spine as he remembered the last time his father had such malice in his eyes. When he had uttered “That’s enough, Varian!” and brushed him off like he always did. For once, Varian wished that his dad would just brush him off and forget about him, especially as his hands tightened their grip on his shirt. He squeaked in fear, feet dangling above the ground as he struggled against his father’s grasp.

_I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just- I just- Please Dad! I’m your son!_

_Shut up, Varian!_ Quirin’s raised voice shook him and made him wince in fear. It sent a shiver up his spine and made his jaw grow slack. Though his father never struck him before, he couldn’t ignore the sinking fear that he might. The ever-present possibility that he’d have enough one day and release his pent up frustration. 

_No son would choose some rocks over his own father._

Suddenly, his father’s hands let go and he was dropped to the ground, too terrified to pick himself off the cold floor. Looking up, Quirin’s back was towards him in that familiar disappointed stance. When his father couldn’t even look at him he was so ashamed.

_That’s not true! Dad- dad, I was doing it for Corona!_ Tears pricked the edges of his eyes as he cried out in desperation. Deep down Varian had wondered to himself all those weeks ago why he hadn’t just listened to his father. Why he decided to put Corona first. Maybe that’s why he decided to take revenge. To take it all back. That same childish reasoning of undoing the laundry or unsetting the table. The reason why he decided to take back every good deed and intention he had ever meant for Corona. Because by doing that good deed for Corona, he took his own father’s life.

_So you put Corona before me! Is Corona more important to you?_ His voice rang out so loudly that the walls almost shook with his anger, Varian cautiously eyed his large fists as the boy pressed his back against the wall. Why couldn’t he stop shaking? _All my life I had to deal with you! You disappointment! You failure! And you decided that Corona was more important?_

_No Dad! I didn’t I-_

_You’re nothing but a disappointment. Just look at everything you’ve done and what Corona did in return!_ Quirin’s voice spat out the word Corona with so much venom and hatred it reminded Varian of himself. _Why would anyone, much less the Princess, ever choose you?_

Varian didn’t realize he was in tears until he opened his mouth and nothing but a choked sob escaped. His freckled cheeks were dampened and he wiped the wetness away with the back of his sleeve.

“No! Dad, please! I-I didn’t mean it!” A tear escaped his slumber locked eyes as Varian tossed and turned, Ruddiger had gotten up off of his lap and was resting his paws against his arm, nervously chittering. His voice broke even in slurred sleep. “I can- I can fix it, please!”

Eugene walked over to the boy quickly and crouched down, hesitantly reaching out and gently shaking his shoulders. Concern was etched into his face, and his previous anger and bitterness towards the child vanished almost instantaneously as he realized who was really before him. And he was not a monster.

Varian awoke with a scream of terror and tried to dart up but was held back by the chains. His chest rose and fell rapidly as Eugene stood up and took a few steps away, not wanting to crowd the boy and too hesitant to offer him any physical comfort. Varian’s eyes darted from side to side, searching for the phantom threat that plagued him.

“It’s okay, kid. You were having a nightmare.” Varian flinched at the kind words, not used to them. The most comfort he received at the end of his tainted dreams was usually the distressed noises from his raccoon. Looking up, he wiped his tear-stained cheeks and mumbled to himself. 

“Sorry.” He apologized reflexively. Not just for disturbing the man by waking him, but also for his general existence. He was sorry that Eugene had to coexist with this failure of a human being, if he could even still be called human. Varian stared down at his knees, Ruddiger curled up at his feet and tucked his nose under his fluffy tail to sleep. Eugene nodded and stepped away, sitting back down beside the flower across from the flame. He looked back up at the boy like he wanted to say something, though even Eugene wasn’t sure what to say. The air was awkward and uncomfortable, but no longer as heavy as it was before between them.

“You miss her, don’t you?” Varian asked softly after a while, so softly that Eugene didn’t realize he was speaking to him until the kid looked up across the campsite.

“Why do you ask?”

“I-uh. May have heard you talking to her when I was drifting in and out of my nightmare,” He mumbled sheepishly. In truth, that nightmare was the longest he had slept consecutively in a long while, usually dipping in and out of sleep rapidly which left him more exhausted than he was before.

“Oh um-” Eugene looked away from him at the jar, embarrassed to say the least. How could he explain that he was looking to a plant for comfort, that he had poured out his soul to an inanimate flower? He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and tried to come up with some excuse but his thoughts were interrupted by the boy once again.

“It- It’s -It’s okay. I well- I know what it’s like to miss someone. Talking to them like they’re there makes you feel better. In some weird way.” At this point he was rambling but looking up at the man, he wasn’t told to stop, to Varian’s surprise. No one ever let him ramble like this without acting a little annoyed at the very least. Yet here Eugene was, staring at him from across the flames like he was actually listening and considering the words that came from Varian’s mouth. Like he cared.

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.” Eugene nodded and glanced up at the kid. He tried to picture him, alone and grieving over his father while feeling like the entire kingdom had turned the backs on him. Mourning while feeling like no one cared. For once, quite possibly the first time, Eugene could understand him and why he felt like he had no choice but to become a villain, why he felt like he had no other option. The past few weeks had been torture for the man, but at least he still had a shred of hope, the possibility of reuniting with his beloved. That hope kept him sane, it kept him alive. When Varian lost his father, his hope was crushed the night of the storm, lost to the wind and snow, and he had no other choice but to push on without. 

“Try to get a little more sleep, kid. We have a long road ahead.” Eugene tried to sound comforting as he laid down with the flower in front of him. With Rapunzel in front of him. He hadn’t been sleeping before, afraid that Varian would come up with some sort of plan and attack. Though now, that mask of villainy had fallen and cracked completely, and all it was hiding remained. 

Anger and action worked in unison to distract from the terrified and broken kid behind them, and now that boy was all that was left of the facade. Maybe he wasn’t too different from the bright-eyed intelligent kid who couldn’t get enough of The Tales of Flynn Rider. Maybe that child wasn’t lost.

Eugene smiled at the thought and rolled over onto his side, curling up around the jar as he slept. Not protectively like he had held the jar from Varian before, but for his own comfort. His arm wrapped around the glass container and held it close to his heart. Varian watched the man settle in before sighing and attempting to do the same. His kind words brought him a blanket of comfort that allowed him to settle into a light but peaceful sleep.

From the shadows a lone figure stood, watching over the two sleeping travelers for a brief moment before slinking back into the woods unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// You're at the end!! Congrats!! Hope it was a good use of your time!  
> The nightmare was really fun to write and hhhhh Dadgene  
> Lemme know what you think


	3. Everything I Ever Thought I knew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their journey, Varian and Eugene start to warm up to each other and rekindle their friendship. They meet someone with a little too much information on the mysterious force known as the Moonstone, as well as Varian himself. Eugene is wary of the woman but Varian can't help but need to know more about everything he thought he knew about who his father was as well as his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// This is one of my favorite chapters

Although they had been traveling for double the time since that night around the campfire it felt like only a few days had passed. In sharp contrast to how the days dragged on endlessly during the first leg of their trip. Funny how a change in perspective could alter everything. Varian knew what it was like when that outlook on the world turned dark. How it felt like time itself was caving in and choking the air from his lungs, how it seemed like nothing could ever feel right again. He didn’t realize that it could also work in the opposite manner. Something that night must have struck Eugene, as for the rest of the trip he was kinder to him than anyone had ever been. Varian hadn’t realized how much he missed having someone to talk to. No, it wasn’t just someone to talk to, it was someone who listened to him. Someone who made him feel heard.

Not only did Eugene stay next to him and listen to him ramble on and explain his alchemy, his calculations, or his theories. Eugene actively asked questions and reacted and treated Varian like someone worth being around. At first, the boy had been confused, remembering how he had stuttered and nearly jumped back when Eugene asked a follow-up question to his rambles. His father had never given him a passing glance, he never even bothered to stay in the same room as the boy when he spoke about his passions. For the first time in his entire life, Varian didn’t feel like a burden when speaking about what he truly loved. He didn’t feel ignored. Eugene did more than just give him another topic to ramble about, he gave Varian a sense of companionship that was long gone from his life. He acted as if Varian was someone, someone he liked. 

Eugene’s presence even calmed his night terrors. Visions that had plagued him since that horrid blizzard were lessened and weaker with the man around. His presence made Varian feel safe in some strange way. The man who captured him and threatened his life mere weeks ago was now the closest person he had to a friend.

Still, despite the progress, there were still lasting implications from the past, his past. Eugene had loosened the cuffs around his wrists and ankles but the metal still remained. While the man had picked up a salve for his raw skin Varian insisted to put it on himself, shrinking away from his hands. The hands that were once clenched around his shirt and lifting him off of the ground.

The bond the two now had wasn’t the only thing that affected their travels. The previously strict schedule Eugene had imposed was loosened. Well needed rest was accommodated and sometimes they would even stop at a nice location to eat. Varian noticed how Eugene still held the jar containing the flower within, how he rarely left it behind wherever they went. However, the boy kept quiet about his concerns and turned away, who was he to judge how someone grieved. At least Eugene had only taken him prisoner. It wasn’t like he decided to kidnap the queen and destroy the kingdom, killing the princess and the embodiment of the Sundrop in the process. He and Eugene were different, Eugene was good, and sometimes Eugene made Varian feel like he could be good too. He made Varian feel like he wasn’t the reflection that looked back at him when he stared into still water. Like he was something, someone, worth saving.

“How about we stop for lunch today, Goggles?” 

Eugene asked and looked over at the boy sitting next to him. He was relieved that the kid seemed to be content with sitting up front with him, he didn’t like to admit it but the thought of leaving the boy alone still didn’t sit comfortably with him. Guilt trickled in after that thought. He should know better, he shouldn’t feel this way. If Rapunzel had never given him a second chance, well he’d have nothing. As much as he wanted to, as much as his heart wanted to return to how things used to be, he just couldn’t. Couldn’t look into those blue eyes without seeing them narrowed behind red stained glass, or from behind a puff of purple smoke. He couldn’t forget as much as he wished he could forgive.

Varian had been writing in his notebook, curled up on the wagon seat facing Eugene, the notebook, leather-bound with yellowing parchment and a spine that didn’t fully close all the way without the help of a brown belt, laid propped against his bent legs. He made sure Eugene couldn’t see what he was scribbling. Any possible solution to his plight was scrawn down onto the pages, anything that could possibly aid in his frantic attempt to figure out how to bring someone back from the dead. How do you bring the living embodiment of life and hope and creation back? Varian didn’t have the answers, like usual.

Mostly the pages were filled with half baked ideas and notes that lead to more crosses and scribbles than actual words. Varian was very much used to the feeling of frantically writing, searching for a solution with the graphite, and hoping that the pencil knew something he did not. He would hope that the thoughts rushing in his head were cohesive and only needed to be channeled through his arm and expressed onto something physical in order to make sense. But frantic thoughts unfortunately only turn into frantic writings.

“Oh uh-” He lifted his head quickly and hugged the notebook to his chest. He couldn’t let Eugene know, he couldn’t let him down again. 

Eugene didn’t put too much thought into this, knowing that the kid was just jumpy, he hoped he was just jumpy. However, he couldn’t help but wonder what could have happened to make him alert at every small sound and change in the world around him. What caused him to constantly be in fight or flight mode? To see every waking moment as a battle. Was he a part of the cause?

“Yeah sure. Sounds good.” He mumbled and tucked the journal away, ignoring Eugene’s concerned stare. Although it was clear that Eugene had good intentions, Varian couldn’t help but feel on edge when his eyes lingered. He couldn’t shake that fear that Eugene was judging him for whatever he had done in the moment, or all that time ago. No one ever gave him a second glance, much less looked at him for any longer than they needed to in order to give him a disapproving look. Why would he expect anything different from him? Why should he be any different after everything Varian did to him, everything Varian took away? Eugene looked as if he was going to say something while bringing the caravan to a stop, though Varian quickly hopped out before he could speak. He had gotten used to the weight around his limbs, and movement became less of a burden. It felt as if a force had been lifted off his shoulders as well, something much heavier than the cuffs. A burden that held him down and hunched his posture until he struggled to breathe, he held it for the longest time and it only grew heavier with each disapproving side-eye from his father. 

Ruddiger scrambled off from where he was sitting on top of Fidella, he and Max had gotten into a bit of a squabble earlier, and hopped alongside the caravan to peer hungrily into the food storage. However, Varian grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and set him on his shoulders before the thief could grab a bite out of the basket. Eugene had bought them a meal that day, sandwiches from a shop in the small town they just passed. He had claimed it was because he was sick of eating the same thing every day, which was true. But Eugene had also seen how Varian’s eyes lit up at the sight of the glass display case filled with the food. He had told Eugene that he made the best ham sandwiches, he’d make them for his dad all the time. Varian only mentioned it as a passing thought, but surprise filled his face when Eugene approached the stand and ordered two sandwiches and fruit for their lunch. The boy had insisted that Eugene shouldn’t buy him his share, that they should be saving money and he was fine with the dried stock they had. In reality, Varian believed that he wasn’t worth the cost of the fresh food. He wasn’t worth the consideration. Though Eugene had brushed him off, not in the exasperated way that everyone else used to. It was like he had brushed him off to help him, like he was insisting to be kind to him.

Picking up the basket by the handle, the boy looked around and found a quiet grassy area underneath a large oak tree. Walking over, he sat down in the shade as Eugene set up the feed bags for the horses. In the meantime, Varian handed Ruddiger an apple and smiled as the creature sat down next to him and ate happily. If he closed his eyes, he could pretend that they were back in Od Corona. Eugene had simply come over to visit him and have lunch. If he really suspended his belief he could convince himself that Eugene would come over all the time, that he always wanted to talk to Varian, and that they were Team Awesome. If only it wasn’t all a fleeting fantasy.

Eugene glanced over at the boy as he fed the horses, not suspiciously like he may have done all those nights ago, but to make sure he was okay and settled. He quickly wrapped up to walk over with the jar under his arm. Noticing how Varian didn’t eat until he sat down and how he handed Eugene his share first. Well, actually a little bit more than his share. Eugene carefully slid the extra fruit back onto the bag Varian was using as a plate, a master at concealing gestures due to his years as Flynn Rider. Only this time he was giving instead of taking, this time he had someone else to care for.

“How is it?” Eugene asked and nodded towards the sandwich. Varian looked at him, confused as to why Eugene was concerned about if he enjoyed it. He nodded, truthfully nodded. Anything would taste amazing to him after days of nothing but dried food that sucked all the moisture from his mouth but also refused to rejuvenate from its dried form.

“Are you okay kid?” He asked, his tone softening as he leaned forwards to look Varian in the eyes. The boy looked up and quickly darted his eyes away.

“Yeah yeah- I just. Dad never really asked me things like that.” He mumbled and his shoulders sagged slightly. Eugene’s eyes widened a bit and his hand reached out but paused in mid-air. It always pained him to see Varian talk about his father, from what little the boy had mentioned on their journey, the picture that came into view wasn’t a happy one.

“I guess I just always wondered if there was a reason why.” If there was a reason why he didn’t love me. Varian wanted to add but bit back the comment. He took in a breath like he was pressing the words back down his throat. Eugene was about to speak when a third, unknown voice spoke up.

“Oh, I can tell you why.” Eugene jumped to his feet and drew his sword, Varian hopped up as well, startling Ruddiger who scurried around the tree towards the woman leaning back against it. She handed the raccoon the apple she was nearly finished eating, the red fruit matching the painted side of her face. 

“Quirin was always the quiet one.” The woman shrugged and walked over to them with a soft smile like she knew something they didn’t. And she did. Eugene stepped between her and the boy who she was walking quickly towards.

“Wait wait wait! Hold on. Who are you?” The man asked and watched as she pushed his sword aside with the back of her hand. A little offended by how quickly she brushed him off without a care in the world.

“A-and how do you know my father?” Varian piped up from behind Eugene, cowering a bit behind the man.

“Oh! Right sorry! Son of Quirin and-” She looked Eugene up and down before shrugging. “His friend. My name is Adira. And I’d like to speak with the boy privately.” With that, the woman continued towards Varian only for Eugene to put a hand on her shoulder to stop her advancement.

“Oh no no no! You need to tell us who you are right now lady, and not just a name.” The woman’s expression shifted slightly as her right hand, with a distinctive circular mark, wrapped around Eugene’s wrist. 

“Okay- I gotta be honest. I know we just met but uh- I’m not a big fan of people touching me.” She said the last part through gritted teeth, stiffening slightly and brushing his hand off of her shoulder. Eugene grumbled a bit but sighed and turned to look at Varian who seemed... different.

The boy’s eyes were wide as he saw the woman’s hand. That circular marking with three claw-like streaks was also engraved on some of his father’s possessions, locked away in a chest in his room. Varian had discovered them after sneaking around but didn’t bring it up to his father. He figured there was a reason his dad kept secrets, even from his own son. His own family.

“D-do you wanna sit down?” He asked softly, watching Eugene stiffen as the woman grinned and nodded. Eugene sighed but walked back over to the jar and set it in his lap, the woman sat down a bit closer to them. There was a bit of awkward silence before she spoke, glancing over at Ruddiger who had taken a liking to her shiny hair accessories. Varian grabbed the pet to keep him from burying himself into her poof of white hair.

“Now,” The woman began and shifted her gaze over to the jar, her brown eyes lighting up slightly. “Sorry about my bluntness but- is that the Sundrop Flower?” 

Both Eugene and Varian recoiled in shock at her knowledge, though she didn’t seem to notice and waited for an answer. 

“H-how do you know that?” Eugene snapped and hugged the jar closer. “You got a lot of questions to answer lady!”

The woman scoffed and almost laughed. “My name’s not Lady, I’m Adira of the Dark Kingdom.”

“The Dar-” Varian mumbled to himself and looked up at her. “Is that where the rocks are taking us?”

Adira smiled and nodded. “You’re just like Ulla. She was always the brains.” Varian looked at her with wide eyes, the words she was saying seemed to mean nothing to her, but they meant everything to him. What did she know? What could she tell him? He was about to speak before her expression soured as she noticed the chains on his wrists and ankles.

“Well, that’s not right.” She remarked bluntly and drew her blade, a black weapon that Varian recognized as similar to the same spikes that terrorized his town and tore his life apart. The woman lifted the sword into the air, and before he could cry out with terror, before Eugene could draw his blade, she brought the weapon down. Varian cried out but looked down in shock as the chains were cut through like butter.

“You-your sword- it’s made from the black rocks!” He cried out in amazement though the excitement was short lived as the woman had turned the blade on Eugene.

“Who are you and what were you doing with this boy... Fish Skin?” Her voice was firm and almost protective.

“Wha- Fish Skin?” Eugene held up two hands defensively but was at a loss for words. In truth, he was this boy’s, Varian’s, captor and Varian had no reason to protect him from meeting the business end of the weapon.

“Wai-wait no! It’s okay.” Varian scrambled up and hurried over to the woman, making sure not to touch her as he stepped between them. Moving without the chains linking his legs together felt awkward, but when did he not feel awkward? “It’s a long story. But I think you have a much longer one to tell us.”

The tension in the air slowly diffused as Adira backed off and put her blade back in its sheath. Varian looked shocked as she closed her eyes for a moment before sitting back down, he didn’t expect anyone except Eugene to hear what he had to say, much less listen. Eugene mouthed a thank you to Varian, his eyes more surprised than anything and also relieved. Maybe this was the reason he needed, the reason he was searching for to trust this child once again.

“D-did you know my father?” Varian asked though it was clear she had. The question was more for him to try and solidify this surreal realization into reality. He never imagined his father would have out with someone like her. Someone who was wild and mysterious and fun.

Adira’s expression softened and her eyes glazed over slightly as the memories of better days clouded her vision. When she had two friends, no, brothers, by her side and the world felt open and endless.

“I trusted him with my life.” She said quietly as she watched the boy sit down, the very boy she had not seen since he was a baby. How she wished to stay in this moment, to reminisce, though she had a duty. “What are you two doing with the Sundrop?” Her tone shifted as quickly as it had softened and she turned towards Eugene, though Varian was the one to speak.

“We-we’re taking it to the source of the- To the Dark Kingdom.” He stammered and sighed quietly, his shoulders drooped and his head hung. “There was a princess who was the embodiment of the Sundrop but she was killed. We’re on a mission to bring her back.” Oh god, he hoped the woman wouldn’t turn his entire lie on its head. 

She nodded and glanced towards the flower. “How much do you really know about the Sundrop?”

“Not much, can you tell us more?” Varian admitted with a small shrug, this was all going to fall apart. He was used to seeing his plans crumble around him, and that sinking feeling returned. Though this time he wasn’t just losing what little respect and dignity he had left, he would be losing Eugene too.

“Oh, I can’t tell you about the Sundrop. Thought it was a myth until like five minutes ago.” The woman chuckled and glanced towards Eugene who tightened his grip on the jar. “But, I can tell you all about the Moonstone.”

The time passed rapidly and what was supposed to be a short rest break turned into a long period of storytelling and fascination. Adira spoke of grand adventures, of her old friends who had split up due to time and unfortunate circumstances, of fantastical myths about the flower and its opposite. The Moonstone. She spoke of a kingdom made from the black rocks, about how the only way to stop the rocks was to reunite the Sundrop with the Moonstone. Eugene’s hold on the flower tightened as she spoke.

“But what happens when you reunite them?” He asked and Adira simply shrugged. 

“Don’t know.”

“You know for someone who knows a little too much about Hairstripe and the Moonstone, you seem to lack important answers to other things.” He mumbled sarcastically, reminding himself of the icy tongued Cassandra who would usually be the one to throw a jab like that. For some reason, this strange woman who knew too much about the past frightened him. She brought up things that he was certain Varian would rather not think about. Eugene was hesitant to admit that he developed an aversion towards Quirin the more Varian talked about him. Though the child never spoke ill of his father, his remarks made it pretty clear how he thought his father perceived him. From what it sounded like, the man Adira had known and the man Varian knew were two very different people.

Varian leaned closer to the woman as she spoke, in the process he had slipped out of the handcuffs. Eugene kept them on so loosely he could have done so before but didn’t to avoid causing him any stress. His ears were filled with fantastical stories of a man he thought he knew. The man in the stories was different but also similar, he was a hero, a knight, fearless and brave and loyal. Everything Varian wanted to be. A part of him longed to know more, a part of him wished he never heard it. Because that part would always wonder why Quirin never told him these stories himself, that part would wonder what happened to the man those words described, that part would remind himself that he would never hear stories like that from his father. That his stories died with him, because of his own son.

Eugene watched as Varian shrunk into himself while Adira started on a tangent about the Brotherhood, as she called them, when they were teenagers.

“So Hector’s screaming and on fire, the eggs haven’t hatched yet and your fath-” 

“oOkay thank you weird shadow lady but we should really get going.” Eugene cut her off and stood, picking up the jar with her- er the flower inside. Varian stood as well but looked hesitant to leave as he put Ruddiger into the picnic basket and picked it up. He didn’t know what he wanted, to leave or to hear more about his dad. His dad? He wasn’t even sure he really knew his own father anymore.

“I’m not that weird! Of course, You two have a schedule to keep. But!” She got up as well and slid in front of the two while they walked towards the caravan. “I know a quicker route to the Dark Kingdom.”

“Thanks but we got it covered. Just follow the creepy rocks, not too difficult.” Eugene said and put a hand on Varian’s shoulder as he walked quickly to the caravan, placing the jar on the seat as he went to take care of the feed bags. 

“Well, I wouldn’t call The Forest Of No Return difficult. But you may think otherwise, Fishskin.” The woman responded with a shrug and opened the door to the caravan. “Wow! This is so cool!” She cried out and climbed inside, soon opening the window just behind the seat and resting her chin there.

“Th-the forest?” Varian asked softly, but his voice shook with fear.

“Of No Return.” Adira finished for him and shrugged. “Magical ever-changing forest that only a few people ever made it through alive.”

“W-who has?” Varian turned to look at her sitting in the window, Ruddiger tried to scramble out of the picnic basket but Varian held the lid down with one hand, not wanting him to climb into her hair. He paused for a second to briefly marvel at the ability to use both hands to their full degree of motion again, as well as how light he felt on his feet physically. Now just to ignore the growing pit in his stomach he felt from never truly knowing the one man he idolized for years.

“Well her name starts with A, and ends with A too. It’s me!” She replied with that same grin and watched as Eugene grumbled, climbing into the front seat. He didn’t like the woman, but from how Varian looked at her and the fear in his eyes at the mention of The Forest Of No Return, Eugene figured she’d at least bring the child comfort.

Adira and Varian, along with a little bit of Eugene’s interruptions, talked about what led up to their journey. Varian brushed over his fall, his failures as quickly as he could. Painting a messy and rushed picture of his father being trapped protecting him, his mistakes, and the death of a princess. He would stare at his hands while speaking, ashamed. Though, for some reason, Adira didn’t seem to treat him any differently than when she first met him.

After a few nights of travel with their new companion, Adira and Varian had climbed up to the top of the caravan. It started with Adira pointing out different stars to the boy, then suggesting they get a better view. Ruddiger had stayed behind next to a grumbling Eugene. Eugene wasn’t bitter. He wasn’t. Why should he be when Varian had found someone who knew about his past, who could give him the answers he desperately wanted. He wasn’t and shouldn’t be bitter.

“Who gave you those goggles?” Adira asked and motioned to the brown and blue pair atop the male’s head. The two were laying on their backs, staring up at the night sky. He took them off and held them in his hands.

“I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. Why?”

“They belonged to your mother,” Adira replied and glanced over at him. “The clothes you’re wearing now are just bigger versions of the ones she loved to dress you up in.”

“Wh-” Varian glanced down but was interrupted by Adira who didn’t seem to hear him. She was lost in her own thoughts and more talking to herself than to him. She did that a lot.

“Your mother and I would look for stars all the time,” Adira replied as the boy shifted closer to her. He turned in her direction and widened his eyes, and for a second, Adira saw a long lost friend in them.

“You knew her too?” Varian asked, of course he knew she knew his mother. Even he knew what she looked like. But he didn’t mean it like that, he meant it as knowing a person. Truly understanding their past and knowing who they were, rather than what they were on the outside. Following that thought, Varian wasn’t even sure if he knew his own father.

“Not as well as your father. We would just hang out while he was putting away his armor, so we had plenty of time to chat.” Varian chuckled, his father was always meticulous with his tasks, at least that part of him never changed. 

“You know,” Varian mumbled and glanced over at the woman who had her right hand resting underneath her head. The marking there, the mark of The Brotherhood, changed everything for him. That mark was the secret his father always tried to hide. And, in a way, it was the reason his father was gone. If he hadn’t had that loyalty to the Dark Kingdom, maybe he wouldn’t have discouraged Varian from learning about the rocks. Maybe Varian would have never done that stupid experiment. Maybe things would be different, maybe they would be good. “I feel like I’ve learned more about my family today than in my entire life.”

He sighed heavily, Adira’s eyebrows furrowed with concern as she looked over at him. She could tell from the way he spoke about Quirin, from the way he acted at his name. She could tell.

“Your father just wanted to protect you. And- he’s quite good at pushing everyone away.” Adira started, trying to make the boy feel better. She felt like it was her responsibility now, he was her responsibility. After learning about what happened to Quirin, how he lost his life due to the Moonstone, she knew it was her duty to help his son. It was the least she could do for an old friend.

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Adira sighed softly and closed her eyes. “After we split up I would go to visit your father in Old Corona. He was different back then.” She glanced over at him and looked back up at the stars. “Then Ulla disappeared.”

Varian nodded, his father had told him his mother passed when he was very young. However, Adira was the only other person who seemed to remember or talk about her. His father sure didn’t.

“He blamed it on the past. Said it was the Dark Kingdom’s fault that she got into things she shouldn’t have. Said it was my fault.” She glanced to the side Varian wasn’t laying and shook her head. “But deep down, I think he was blaming himself. He told me to stay away from his family. That he wanted nothing to do with me or the Brotherhood anymore.”

“Wh-what? That’s not fair!” Varian cried out and sat up, looking over at the woman laying on top of the caravan. His life seemed to flash before his eyes, a different life where the possibility of having a family was involved. Why did his father push away his friends when they could have had each other? It was stupid to dwell on what could have been but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t have to be alone all those years. From what Adira said, she wanted to be a part of their life, a part of his life. That was more than Dad wanted. “He-he took that away from me?!”

“Your mother and you were his world, Varian. He didn’t want to lose you.” Adira tried to comfort him, she was never great with this kind of stuff. This was just like Adira, talking about things best left unsaid. The boy shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye. 

“Th-then he hated the world!” He choked out and brought his knees to his chest. Adira sat up beside him and hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder. She had an aversion to touch but would make an exception for him. It was easier for her when she was initiating the touch. What had happened all those years ago? Who had her friend become?

“No- no Varian he-” Adira sighed and waited until the child looked back up at her, a shiver ran up her spine as she once again looked into those bright blue eyes. She ducked her head to regain her composure. “I can’t speak for him. But when I look into your eyes, I just see your mother.” She whispered and watched as the boy nodded with understanding. “She was the love of his life.”

“And he hated me because I reminded him of her,” Varian muttered, knowing how her alchemy got her killed. How his father despised his passion and him as a result.

“He wanted to protect you because he was afraid.” Adira pulled her hand back when Varian shrugged her off. 

“From your stories? It sounds like you three aren’t afraid of anything.” He muttered and blew his hair up out of his face.    
  
“Everyone’s afraid of something, Varian.” She looked down and laid on her back after Varian did the same. The boy crossed his arms and clutched the goggles tightly like he was clinging on to the life he wished he had. “W- why are you being nice to me?” Varian sputtered out and turned towards her, trying to fight back tears. Adira’s expression saddened as she turned her head in a questioning matter.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Varian shook his head and pushed back his hair with his hands. “You- you know what I did! You don’t even know all of it! But anyone else would hate me if I told them. They- they would and do hate me! Why don’t you hate me?” 

He let out a pained whimper and shook his head, the outburst hurt him, but just saying the words out loud made him feel the tiniest bit better. The thoughts had been swirling around in his mind ever since he told Adira the truth, the watered down truth, the questions clouded his vision and threatened to blind him, and just releasing them brought him the slightest bit of relief.

Adira sucked in a breath and sighed, looking off into the distance. Eugene had nodded off at the reins, though Max was more than capable of guiding them.

“Let’s just say I also know someone who’s acting differently because they’re hurt. But I believe there’s still good in him. And I know there’s good in you.” She smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair affectionately. Varian couldn’t help but grin.

“Adira? Why do you call Eugene Fish Skin?” He asked, not so gracefully changing the subject. Adira let out a quiet sigh of relief, this emotional stuff was close to crashing and burning due to her. Much like that time Hector was lit on fire and then- well that was a story for a different time.

“I prefer to give people nicknames based on physical appearance, it’s easier than learning their actual names.” She replied with a shrug.

“Then-” Varian glanced over at her and struggled to not bite his tongue. His father always wanted him to stay quiet, to not ask questions. Eugene was the only person who was different. Maybe she was different too. “Why do you call me Varian? I mean- Eugene has tons of nicknames for me. He could help you come up with one- not that you can’t do that yourse-”

Adira cut him off with a raise of her hand and shrugged. “Well, you’re not just an ordinary person.” She was right, Varian was less than ordinary. He was destructive, he wasn’t worthy of a nickname. Adira’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “You’re family. And I need to know family’s names.”

“Oh-” Varian smiled softly and chuckled to himself. He was family? And she wasn’t ashamed?

“Also it helps that I’ve had over thirteen years to remember.” She added and stretched her arms over her head. Varian followed suit and curled up onto his side, respecting her wish to not be touched. Just curling up next to her made him feel safer like he was a part of something. Like someone was there for him. 

“Good night… Aunt Adira.” He mumbled sleepily, already too far gone to see Adira softly smile at him and wipe away a single happy tear.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// I LOVE THIS CHAPTER I'M SORRY I ADORE ADIRA SO MUCH


	4. Permanent Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heading towards the Great Tree for the final leg of their journey, Adira is confronted with another member of her past who's intentions are a little murkier. Varian learns more about the family he didn't even know he had and all that he's missed out on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// This chapter is one of my favorites

Carved into the gnarled trunk of a large old tree, the words Forest Of No Return sent a shiver up Varian’s spine just by existing. He cowered behind the window inside the caravan, grateful that Adira had insisted he sit inside for the trip. She didn’t have to push, the alchemist had practically scrambled inside the safety of the caravan walls once his aunt mentioned they were approaching the forest. He had read about it in old books kept in his father’s room, hidden away in chests. The books had knowledge about far off places and creatures and sights Varian couldn’t even imagine. The stories about the forest kept him up at night, though he wasn’t even a decade old when he had read them, now his nights were plagued with more terrifying sights. Not more deadly than the creatures that lurked in the shadows of the trees, the new visions were more terrifying because they were grounded in reality. While others woke up in cold sweats about fears that would most likely never occur, what he saw were things that actually happened, things he actually did.

Occasionally the night terrors would return, he’d wake up with a jolt or sometimes an audible scream and expect to be back on the cold floor of his workshop. He’d open his eyes and the image of his father’s outstretched pose would flash before his vision before the calming voice of Adira or Eugene would pull him back into reality. Varian wasn’t used to anyone comforting him after his nightmares, the first few times he had pushed the concerned adults away and resolved to curling up into himself, rocking and struggling to regain his composure on the floor of the caravan. Slowly, slowly the boy had started to open up to the two, and in the late hours of the night, depending on who was driving, Adira would tell him the same stories her past friends would tell each other when they couldn’t sleep, or Eugene would hold him tightly and assure him that nothing would hurt him.

Although he wasn’t particularly fond of Adira, Eugene couldn’t ignore how much of a help she had been on the trip. At the very least, if it weren’t for her threatening him, he wouldn’t have found the reason to trust Varian again. The tension between the two boys felt like it happened years ago. Now the man could leave Varian alone without a second thought, without checking over his shoulder expecting to see a boy donning a gas mask or inside an Automatron. They were friends again, he learned to trust again.

He couldn’t say that the woman wasn’t a little helpful, but maybe his attitude towards her softened because of the effect she had on Varian. It was endearing to see the alchemist open up and show his excitement. Eugene could remember how Varian was before, how he’d shrink away, and talk about his passions with a red flush on his cheeks. How he was ashamed of who he was and feared the possibility that Eugene would think the same. Varian had been so timid to ask Adira about her sword, its makeup, and its properties. The woman had shrugged, admitting that she didn’t even know what it did. She had taken the sword out and handed it to Varian, who struggled to lift it under its weight. Adira watched and listened with intrigue as Varian had examined the blade, and though it was clear she didn’t understand his ramblings she seemed content just being able to listen. 

Eugene could see Varian relaxing around him and Adira as well. Maybe he did find the woman a little fun in her weirdness, like how she would drop everything in order to catch a bug or frog that caught her eye, only to turn and show it to Varian, holding it for him to observe. Or how she would go on long tangents and end up mostly talking to herself, bringing up inside jokes that neither audience member understood.

The man wasn’t too apprehensive when Adira had taken charge of their journey through the forest. While he didn’t understand her map or the musings she went on, he saw her capability and so did Varian, and that was enough to convince him to allow her to lead them. Well, that and Varian mumbling that he’d like Eugene to be with him in the caravan for comfort.

Adira hummed to herself as they rode through the forest, glancing over her shoulder every so often to check up on the boy in the window. She grinned at his curiosity but timidness and fright at every little sound. Eugene had wrapped an arm around the child’s shoulders and pulled him closer, his other hand resting on the hilt of his sword. 

Under the woman’s expert guidance they made it through the forest with no issues. Of course, they wouldn’t have any issues under Adira’s care. She was Adira.

Eugene took over the driving from there, not because he didn’t trust the woman or felt the need to prove his capability, but because he simply figured that she’d need a break after guiding them through that stressful period. It was smooth travelings for the group from then on.

Over the course of the trip, Varian noticed Eugene’s dependence on the jar lessen ever so slightly. He would feel comfortable leaving it in the caravan when they stopped to eat, and sometimes wouldn’t even need to sleep with it beside him. The sudden change had happened one night when both Adira and Eugene were sitting on the bench alone, Varian had gone inside to give Ruddiger a bath and was met with a valiant fight. The two were discussing the Sundrop flower and what needed to be done to the Moonstone, Eugene would always shift the attention back to Rapunzel, making it clear that she was their top priority. Though Adira didn’t seem to agree, she held her tongue. She was aware of what could happen when someone didn’t value the ones around them when they were so fixated on one goal that they lost sight of what was truly important.

The conversation had shifted again to her nickname for the man, more importantly, why. Varian figured she’d tell him the same reasoning she told Eugene a few nights ago when he had asked. It was simply easier to remember physical traits, though this time she had changed her reason, or perhaps felt comfortable enough to share another.

“You are the fish skin that holds the group together.” She had explained and leaned back against the seat. What she had said must have struck something in Eugene, must have helped him in some way. For the majority of the trip, he had been lost and blinded by his own grief. He always said that Rapunzel would know what to do, she was the natural leader. He’d ask the flower for advice in the late hours of the night, only to be met with nothing but a gentle glow. It never occurred to him that he could be the one holding everyone together. He had lost his confidence in that regard the day she died, but maybe there was more in him than he previously thought. No longer was the flower a comfort tool that he desperately needed, which reminded him of what he lost. It became a symbol and a reminder of what he needed to accomplish. No longer did the sight drag him down into the pits of despair, it pushed him forward and only fueled his determination.

“So uh- I should warn the two of you about-” Adira started one day as the caravan was climbing the side of a mountain.

“What is it this time? Dangerous beasts? Impossible to cross gorge? Another forest?” Eugene joked and glanced around, making a light-hearted comment but also taking her words into consideration. Over their conversations, trust had started to form. Adira wasn’t used to this feeling, to be able to rely on others again. She hadn’t had anyone but herself and her own thoughts for years, though sometimes she still found herself asking Quirin or Hector to help her set up camp. Only to be answered by the sounds of the forest. This was a nice feeling, it was like she had a family again like all those years ago. Here’s hoping the other member of her family wanted the same for himself.

“Of No Return. And no. Worse.” She replied and was about to explain when the ground started to rumble behind them. Sighing, she turned to make sure Varian was still in the caravan before getting up. “Keep driving, Fish Skin.”

Eugene didn’t argue and flicked the reins to take Max and Fidella into a gallop. He trusted Adira’s judgment, even if she had a hard time explaining her thought process as she drew her blade and climbed atop the caravan. Varian poked his head out at the commotion but didn’t see what was happening, though he did put Ruddiger back into his basket to keep him safe.

Her boots stepped across the wooden roof as she walked towards the edge, a gray mound was the first to appear, then the familiar horn of the rhino she had helped hide and raise all those years ago. Growls from two large grayish blue creatures could be heard on both sides of the caravan, she knew Eugene would be able to handle them. She hoped at least. Her fight would be with the man sat on the rhino’s back, his eyes narrowed as he scowled. When he did so the blue stripe on his nose would scrunch up as well. Adira glared at their pursuer as they wordlessly exchanged glances, the two knew each other so well that communication was basically telepathic even after years of solitude. A cocky eyebrow raise from the man meant a challenge, a narrowing of the eyes from the woman meant bring it on.

The strange man hopped to his feet, bringing his left arm down to release a blade from who knows where. Adira sure didn’t and she got no explanation whenever she asked. Hopping off the gray animal, the man flew through the air, doing a flip as he closed the gap between them. Blades collided as he landed and shoved Adira backward, her foot scraping against the wood as the force of gravity worked against her. Their faces were close as both parties exerted near equal force on the blades.

“Long time no see, Sister.” He spat the last word out with repulsion and venom as Adira stepped back to break the hold. Frowning, the two clashed and fought with fierce skill, their sparring sessions would last for hours due to their inability to accept defeat, and that flame hadn’t weakened over the years. Maybe the bond hadn’t either.

“Uh- Eugene? What’s happening?” Varian asked and cracked open the window a bit to see the red eyes of some monster, crying out in fear right before a boot kicked the creature off the wagon, Varian watched as Eugene took on another one of the beasts.

“Close the window and stay safe, kid!” Eugene ordered, Varian shivered at the tone in his voice. It was clear the man’s intentions were pure, but his delivery was all too similar to that of another father figure in his life. 

Getting up, Varian grabbed his backpack and rifled through the contents, he had to push past the jars filled with specimens that Adira had collected for him to find the collection of purple orbs. Varian bit his bottom lip as he stared at the sphere, remembering the last time he had used it to trap the Princess and her father. In the purple-tinted reflection, he feared the person looking back at him. The sinking anxiety inside him reemerged. What if he really was evil deep down and just waiting for a moment to turn on Eugene and Adira? What if he betrayed their trust again? Maybe he was lying to himself to pretend that he was good, that he’d changed but deep down he would always be that, that villain. Pushing the thought away, he turned and took a deep breath. Opening the window, he stuck his head out next to Eugene’s legs, looking up to see the two creatures swiping at the man from the overhanging part of the caravan’s roof.

“Wha- kid! Get back insi-” It’s not that Eugene didn’t think that Varian was capable. He allowed the boy to take over the reins every once in a while and even gave him small maintenance tasks to do. Eugene would have preferred to do them himself, but he wanted to make sure Varian knew how much he believed in him. He wanted to prove his trust, to show Varian that the past was forgiven. Just because he trusted the kid didn’t mean he wanted to put him in danger.

Eugene’s concerned order was interrupted with a puff of purple smoke. For a second fear struck the man as he remembered seeing the same smoke come from the room the Sundrop had been hidden in the castle, followed by Rapunzel on the floor. He shook that thought away quickly, scolding himself for even thinking about it. In front of him, the two animals hissed and struggled against the purple goo that held them to the sides of the caravan firmly, Eugene smiled softly and chuckled. 

“Good job, Hairstripe.” He ruffled Varian’s hair with his hand and watched the boy’s eyes light up at the genuine approval. The moment was quickly interrupted as the backdoor of the caravan flew open. Varian turned from the window to see a crazed man with what looked like a sword attached to his arm swing inside followed quickly by Adira who put herself between the boy and him.

“Wh- Who are you?!” Varian cried out in confusion and pressed back against the window, the man’s yellow-green eyes shifted off of the woman for a second, towards the boy. For just a moment, his guard dropped and expression shifted, the left hand with the blade dipped ever so slightly. That moment was just the opening Adira needed to land one firm kick to the man’s stomach, sending him flying backward and hanging onto the back of the caravan with his right hand.

“Is that Quirin’s boy?” He cried out in confusion, completely acting as if he wasn’t currently hanging off the back of a moving vehicle. His eyes landed on the boy pressed against the farthest wall from him.

“Yeah,” Adira replied nonchalantly and walked over to the edge cautiously, holding out a hand for the man to help him up. The man refused her hand, still in shock and mild intrigue.

“He’s not much bigger than last time.” He mumbled, of course, he’d take the time to remark about the boy’s small stature rather than save himself from near death.

“Takes after his mother.” The woman replied and held out her hand again, the right hand bearing the same circular mark on his left. Looking up into her eyes, he saw something that used to be there, all those years ago. He had been told in the past that you could tell a lot about someone from their eyes. Sighing, he retracted his blade and reached up to take her hand, allowing the woman to help him into the caravan.

“Wait-” The boy gawked at the two, eyes darting back and forth and then noticing the rhino chasing them. “A-are you Hector?!” He asked pretty bluntly with the tone of wonder and bewilderment he often had.

“Aw, he’s heard of me.” The man replied and started to walk over only for Adira to hold out a hand to stop him. She wasn’t quite sure of his intentions, as much as she wanted to believe they were good, that he was good.

“Call off the rhino Hector.”

“But he hasn’t had this kind of excitement for so long!” The man complained and motioned towards his pet. “Look at him, he’s having a great time!” The rhino looked aggravated but maybe that was just because rhinos didn’t make facial expressions.

“Hector!” Adira’s tone was firm. Eugene had looked in and assessed the situation but figured he should let Adira handle this. He didn’t know how many more of these Brotherhood weirdos there were, and why did they always have to try and kill them first?

“You’re acting like Quirin,” Hector mumbled with annoyance but raised a hand, the rhino slowed down then stopped just as Eugene brought the caravan to a halt. “Speaking of farmer boy, where is he?” His eyes looked around in almost excitement, with a bit of mischief. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t the tiniest bit excited that Adira had arrived. Part of him had hoped she would for years after they separated. Part of him wanted for them to be friends again, but he couldn’t help but feel that they were too far gone, he was too far gone.

“Hector. Why don’t you sit down.” Adria’s tone softened slightly which seemed to strike something in Hector as well. Whenever Adira had that tone, he knew to listen.

The next few hours must have been, a lot for Hector. Eugene had brought the horses to a stream to rest before returning in order to listen in on the conversation. He sat next to Varian and brought him close, wary about the man who was now draping over their storage crates instead of sitting on a chair. He nodded and seemed to be listening, only interrupting once to ask Varian to free his pets from the goo. After getting approval from Adira Varian complied and the two binturongs were now fawning over their old and current owners. One had rested against Adira’s side as she was talking, while the other sat next to Hector and begged for scratches. Hector mumbled a soft “traitor” at the one who decided to sit with Adira. The story up until that day was wrapped up just as the sun began to set.

“So-” Hector suddenly turned towards Varian who looked down. He was going to judge him, to tell him off, and to say that he was ashamed of him, that he understood why Quirin acted like that. “You took down an entire kingdom by yourself?” Hector turned to Adira. “This kid probably couldn’t lift your sword.”

He was met with an apple to the head, thrown by Adira. Grumbling, he muttered a “jokes on you” and started to eat the fruit. Varian nodded and shrank into himself, Eugene’s arm tightened around his shoulders. “Yeah. I did.” He squeaked out.

Hector’s eyebrow raised slightly before he suddenly grinned and nearly fell off the crate laughing, Adira covered her grin with her hand, shaking her head at the man. This was just like old times, it seems like they both missed the past. “That’s great, kid. Good stuff.”

Varian glanced over at Eugene with surprise, who only shrugged in response. He was just relieved that Hector wasn’t making the kid feel worse about what had happened. Though he wasn’t exactly sure if he was fond of this response. Watching as the man eyed the jar sitting on a shelf above them, he turned back towards Adira.

“Let me guess, Sister. You want my help to get back to the Dark Kingdom.” He mused and watched Adira nod. Hector put a hand to his bearded chin and sighed. “Well, it’s not like I’ve spent the past twenty-five years preventing anyone from getting through The Great Tree. Oh, wait!”

He shrugged and got up like he was about to leave, stopping when Adira called out his name. It was strange that his gut had sunk when he got up to go, knowing that they would have to face off again in the morning. A small part of him had enjoyed this little gathering, this truce. That nagging part of his brain that couldn’t help but linger on hope.

“Hector, come on.” Adira began and stood, taking a step closer to him. The binturongs got up and mingled at their feet. Hector didn’t turn back and held his ground. Stubborn like always. 

“The Moonstone has the power to destroy the world. It is your duty to King Edmund to protect it!” He growled and spun around, pointing a finger at Adira. “Anything less makes you a traitor to us all.”

Adira narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to shove his finger away. “I was looking for the Sundrop Hector! To save u-”

“It's sad to see the once-mighty Adira waste her life on a fool's dream.” Hector hissed through gritted teeth, his jaw clenching.

“Talk about wasting lives! You and the brothers spent your lives hiding something that no one was even looking for!” Adira growled back, noticing Varian cower away into Eugene who drew his sword in case the argument turned for the worse. She motioned for the two to leave through one of the other doors, which they did promptly. Eugene took the jar from its place and then Varian by the hand who was holding Ruddiger’s basket, suggesting that they go hang out with the horses.

“I’ve found the Sundrop Hector, we can-”

“There is no we!” Hector interrupted again and took another few steps, grabbing Adira’s face and pulling it closer to his own. “You two made your choices all those years ago. You left your posts and betrayed King Edmund!” His voice shook ever so slightly, and Adira’s eyes widened with realization.

“Is that why you’re angry Hector?” She asked and forcibly removed his hand from her face, her hand remained wrapped around his wrist. “That we left our posts, or that we left you?”

A deadly silence fell over the room, Hector’s eyes widened in shock, and his mouth, previously showing gritted teeth, fell open. Huffing, he turned, pulling his hand out of her grip, and was about to storm off before Adira’s voice called out to him. It wasn’t uncommon for him to imagine the voices of his friends speaking to him in the Great Tree over those years. He had longed for the imagined calls to be real, and this time it was.

That tree held so many memories of times they spent defeating the heart within, to simply traveling there to document the knowledge inside. Those memories had called out to him when the trio split up, they were the reason he decided to make a home in the tree, at least he’d have the memories of his friends with him. Friends who weren’t traitors yet.

Traitors, they were both traitors. He had told himself, mumbled it into the late hours of the night. That was the only way he could justify them leaving, that they had changed and were going because they couldn’t handle the responsibility of being a member of the Brotherhood. Not because they didn’t want to be a member anymore. Not because they didn’t want to be his friends anymore.

“I-” Hector clenched his hands into fists as he squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the memories of sleepless nights and unheard sobs.

“Think about Quirin, he died protecting this secret. We have the power to neutralize the Moonstone permanently. To make his sacrifice worth it.” Hector’s shoulders sagged slightly, his hands found his pockets, turning back towards her, he couldn’t meet her eyes. They reminded him too much of what was lost. “Hector, I-.” She was about to apologize for the years of solitude, for leaving in haste, for betraying their friendship before he held a hand up.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Sister.” Adira almost recoiled with surprise, it wasn’t like Hector to apologize. But he was sorry, sorry that they had lost contact all those years ago. Sorry that he was too angry to tell his friends how he felt, how it pained him to watch them leave. Sorry that it took Quirin losing his life to bring them back together. He blinked away the tears in his eyes and held out a hand, his tattooed hand, knowing that Adira wasn’t a fan of touch. He picked and chose when he respected her aversion.

Reaching out, Adira took his hand firmly before pulling him into a fierce hug. Hector grunted softly in surprise but quickly found his footing and returned the gesture.

“I thought the great Adira wasn’t a fan of people touching her.” He mumbled into her shoulder, mocking her voice and cadence in a surprisingly accurate way.

“I can make exceptions” Adria mumbled and pulled away from the hug, a smile on her face as she looked her friend up and down. “You haven’t aged a day.”

“Wish I could say the same for you.” He replied and was met with a punch to the shoulder, oh how he had missed this.

Varian and Eugene made their way back to be greeted with the sound of metal clashing, they approached with the horses to Adira and Hector fighting fiercely in front of the caravan. Eugene shoved the jar into Varian’s hands without thinking and started to draw his sword.

“Wait! Wait Eugene!” Varian didn’t have time to marvel at the fact that Eugene trusted him enough to hand him the flower. His eyes had landed on Hector’s pets lounging happily by the caravan, and the alchemist had quickly connected the dots. He grabbed onto Eugene’s arm and the man listened, trusting his judgment. 

As they approached comments of “Nice!”, “Remember when you tried this same move-” and “Hey! Cheater!” were heard. Adira was the first to see them approaching and stopped to wave, only for Hector to land a kick to her stomach and send her barreling into the rhino’s side. The creature lifted it’s head and nuzzled Adira’s cheek fondly. Seems like Hector wasn’t the only one who missed her.    
“Ha! Consider that payback!” Hector whooped in victory and retracted his sword as the two approached. “Ey, V. Come watch me destroy your aunt at sword fighting.” Adira only rolled her eyes at the man and got up.

“Stop gloating- we get it.”

“You’re just saying that because I won.” The man replied smugly and ignored the glare the woman shot him. She groaned with a bit of exasperation and watched Eugene hitch the horses before going inside to put the jar back.

“Hector, can you help with the fire?” Adira asked after a bit, and for the first time in over twenty-five years, she got an answer.

“Yeah yeah, V you wanna help?” Hector offered, already coining a nickname for his nephew. Varian shot a look over at Adira who nodded and started to clear out an area for the flame. Their little gallop earlier had covered a lot more ground, allowing them to relax for a bit.

Varian started to follow Hector, Ruddiger hopped out of the basket that was placed on Max’s saddle and hurried over, climbing onto Varian’s shoulders.

“That your pet?” Hector asked as he handed Varian dried twigs, the boy had told him they would need less wood than usual, so he chose smaller branches.

“Y-yeah,” Varian mumbled and put a hand on Ruddiger’s head. The man’s bright eyes turned and looked at the creature.

“He’s a wild animal you know.” Varian sighed, of course. His father had the same disapproving comment when he first introduced his furry friend.

“I know.” He hung his head and held Ruddiger a little closer. To his surprise, Hector picked up the majority of the wood for the fire and patted the raccoon on the head.

“I like your style, kid.” He replied with a shrug and walked over to put the sticks down for their campfire. Varian grinned and glanced at his companion before hurrying after them. The man didn’t seem to know the impact his words had on the young alchemist. How much he longed and needed this approval that he had been robbed of. If only he had these two all those years ago, maybe he wouldn’t have felt so lonely and worthless. If only his father didn’t cut them off, he could have had a family. A real family.

They finished setting up the campsite quickly, Hector had gotten a little too excited about Varian’s fire setting powder, much like Adira had when he first showed her. The man’s eyes lit up at the possibility of setting fires instantly. He and Adira had exchanged a knowing look as if they were both recalling the same funny memory. Varian just appreciated how much they seemed to care. He’d mumble that dad never cared about this sort of thing, not noticing the way the two glanced at each other with concern.

“Hey, kid,” Hector spoke up after the four had eaten dinner and were just lounging around the fire. Varian was curled up into Eugene who had fallen asleep with his head against the boy. “You like animals, right?” 

Hector pointed to Ruddiger who tucked into a ball on top of Max to sleep, it had taken a while but Varian finally got him to stop trying to steal Adira’s hair rings every chance he got.

“Y-yeah I do,” Varian replied and looked confused, Adira looked wary as well.

“Hector…” She said in a warning tone, the way you would talk to a cat staring at a plate of sausages on the table.

“Would you relax? If I wanted to hurt him I would have already done something.” Not the most reassuring thing to say but he was trying. Adira sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to hide how much she missed the man’s personality.

“Clearly twenty-five years of isolation hasn’t improved your people skills.”

“Look who’s talking. You act like we had people skills before.” Hector replied mockingly and got up. “I’m just gonna introduce V to my friends.” Adira narrowed her eyes at him, causing Hector to roll his. “My other friends, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Adira replied with a shrug and leaned back against the log she and Hector were sitting against. “Was just surprised you had friends.”

“You still making the same jokes, Adira? Get some more material.” The two bickered and picked on each other, though they both knew that was just how they showed their love. The look in their eyes while they complained about the other told it all, they had missed being able to speak to each other. Every joke and jab and tease served as reassurance that they could rekindle their friendship, that it wasn’t too long gone to save.

Hector motioned for Varian to follow. The boy rose cautiously and followed the man over to the rhino and binturongs resting with each other. He stopped a few feet from them only to have the man turn around. 

“Don’t worry, they’re friendly.” He reassured and patted the rhino’s horn.

“Th-they didn’t look very friendly when they were attacking,” Varian mumbled and glanced upwards in fear when he realized Hector heard, he was about to apologize for talking back before the man’s laugh cut him off. Hector smiled to himself, it felt good to laugh again, felt good to be good again.

“You really are your father’s son.” He held out a hand for Varian, who took it. Hector guided the boy’s shaky hand to the rhino’s horn and set it on top of the material. Varian’s eyes widened in fascination. He had only read about rhinoceroses, and now he was actually touching one in real life.

He then began to pester the man for hours after, asking questions all about his pets. Varian was relieved to realize that Hector, along with Adira and Eugene, also seemed to enjoy his presence. It made him wonder if maybe the problem was never that he was too strange or too excited or just too much, maybe it was the people he surrounded himself with. Maybe he wasn’t the problem.

Most of his questions were answered with something along the lines of “I dunno, kid” but at that point, Varian wasn’t asking to get answers, he was asking just to hear their responses. Just to hang out with them and to realize that they liked to be with him. They liked him.

Towards the end of the night, Adira had drifted off as well and Varian fell asleep curled up against Eugene’s side, or Hector assumed so. He had problems sleeping, had them since the Brotherhood split up all those years ago. It was like he didn’t feel safe to sleep without Adira’s breathing and Quirin’s snoring around him. Now, even though he had part of his family back, it still felt different, felt empty. Getting up, Hector had taken a walk farther from the group, sitting down at the edge of the mountain to look down at the dark world. He sighed and his posture hunched slightly as he recalled the last time he was there with the group, the Brotherhood.

They had trekked for days to reach the Great Tree but it felt like only an afternoon, with nap breaks or something. He couldn’t explain how the group made him feel but when Adira and Quirin were with him, they made him feel like there was something more out there in the world, that he was something more. Although the three had a daunting task of claiming the tree for the Dark Kingdom, it felt like they could face anything the Moonstone threw their way as long as they were together. When they were apart, for Hector at least, it felt like the Moonstone was victorious in its quest to destroy everything.

His thoughts were broken by a twig snapping behind him, jumping up, he extended his sword and growled softly towards the bushes.

“W-wait! It’s just me.” Varian called out and stepped out of the foliage. Hector looked visibly relieved and retracted his blade.

“You’re not very sneaky, kid. We’ll work on that.” He replied and sat down, patting the space next to him for Varian to sit. Glancing over at the kid once he sat down, feet hanging over the ledge, Hector looked away.

“Why didn-” Varian started but cut himself off, looking up at Hector and getting a small nod of approval. “Why didn’t you and Adira and my dad keep in contact?” He asked softly, having listened to the two joke about losing touch earlier that day. Seemed like they all used humor as a coping mechanism. Varian still didn’t understand why since if Adira had visited his father in Old Corona, she could have visited Hector as well.

Hector sighed and leaned back on his hands. “They tried your dad and her. They sent letters for a bit, Adira for longer, but-” He sighed and shook his head, regret in his eyes. Varian understood. “I was just so angry at them for leaving me I didn’t respond. Guess they took the hint.” He mumbled and stared down at the world below them.

Varian nodded and was about to speak before Hector scoffed and picked one leg up to rest his chin on his knee. “Stupid.” The man mumbled to himself.

“No, it’s not!” Well I mean-” Varian fumbled over his words, how was he supposed to assure the man that his actions were justified when Varian still felt guilty for his own past? He cleared his throat, maybe reassurance wasn’t the solution, maybe just understanding was. “I know what it’s like, to feel like everyone turned their backs on you.”

Varian stared at the dirt, speaking more to himself than Hector. “It makes you do bad things, angry things. But that doesn’t mean you can’t become good again.”

Hector looked over at the kid with surprise and nodded, the two sat in mutual silence, comfortable silence. Varian shivered slightly, feeling the cold air now that they were away from the warmth of the fire. Noticing, the man beside him wordlessly took off his cape and draped it over the kid’s shoulders, the fur tickled Varian’s nose. Varian looked up in surprise before wrapping the cape tighter around himself and grinning.

“You’re a good kid, V,” Hector mumbled with sincerity and glanced over at him, recognizing the little traits of both Quirin and Ulla in the child. It was his responsibility now, his and Adira’s, to take care of him and do what Quirin could not. It was his new duty.

“Well, you’re a good- a…” Varian paused for a second before looking back up at him.” “You’re good.”

Hector paused for a second before smiling and looking away. After all those years of anger and fighting and pain, he was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// FERAL MAN FERAL MAN FERAL MAN OSUHFEOSHFO I LOVE THE BROTHERHOOD SO MUCH


	5. Doubts in Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While traveling through the Great Tree, Adira and Hector speculate that Varian could be able to shed some light on the murky past of the Sundrop and Moonstone. However, in his search for answers, Varian discovers that even the miraculous flower has a dark side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// So I uh- I took a week break, sorry about that but I'm back! And yeah, here we go! Buckle up

By the time the sun had started to rise above the trees Adira was already awake. She moved quietly and would work in solitude to clean up the campsite. Most of the time she would be lost in her own thoughts, shocking that she could still be captivated by the caverns of her own mind, having spent twenty-five years with nothing but her own company. No matter how much someone liked their own mind, and she liked herself a lot, nothing could replace just simply being around other humans. Not for her at least, though she always suspected that animals could fill the void for Hector.

As she threw some dirt atop the flames that her intelligent nephew had created, her thoughts drifted to the young man. He was the product of Quirin and Ulla, in more ways than physical. Sure he had his mother’s short stature and bright blue eyes, father’s jet black hair, but that wasn’t what stood out to Adira. It was how the boy had been so sure of her potential hatred towards him, how he always seemed to assume the worst in himself, his lack of confidence and inability to let go of past mistakes. His desperation to do good but also the way he brushed off compliments like he truly didn’t believe them. He was the product of his mother’s absence. He was the product of his father’s treatment. He was the product of Quirin and Ulla.

Needless to say, it was difficult for the woman to process how her friends, once so morally good and loving in her eyes, could have damaged a poor boy like this. She saw the fear in his eyes whenever Eugene or herself got frustrated, how his arms would raise ever so slightly to block a phantom attack. She couldn’t help but wonder if his fears were fantastical, or if they were based on precedent.

Then there was Eugene, who seemed to be a completely different man than the one she had first met. Maybe not different, maybe this side of Eugene had just been lost for a while before he found himself again not too long ago. From how he spoke of the passed Sundrop Princess, it was clear to her that whoever he became, whoever he still was, was due to the girl’s influence. He rarely spoke of his life before meeting the girl, and from what she heard, well she concluded that he was much like herself and Varian and Hector. A group comprised of those who had chapters best left unread.

She was lost, no not lost, more absorbed into her own thoughts that the man who rose after her could easily sneak up. Stiffening as he nudged her shoulder with his own, she rolled her eyes as she was pulled from her contemplations. Brotherhood tradition, always wake up before or at sunrise. The woman’s disgust served to hide the genuine joy underneath from having someone to accompany her before the others in the group had risen. While she simply enjoyed their company, asleep or awake, there was something different about being with an old friend while completing tasks in the exact same way they did all those years ago. It was always her job to put out the remnants of the fire from the night before, Hector’s to fetch water for the horses, and Quirin’s to pack up the campsite. No matter how many nights had passed, how many campsites she set up, and packed up, Adira would always complete her tasks first. She’d always have that small voice in her mind telling her that Hector and Quirin were just off somewhere and they would be back later to complete their jobs.

Watching as the man tucked his hands into his pockets and lazily wandered off towards the stream with a bucket he presumably found inside the wagon, Adira sighed and immediately went to check up on their supplies, knowing very well that Hector must have carelessly rifled through them for that bucket. The woman would find that she was right, some things never changed. Grumbling, she got up to put tarps and food sacks back into their rightful places, quickly dusting off her hands and stepping out of the caravan as Eugene and Varian rose.

Varian rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he turned over, Eugene’s arm was wrapped around him and resting on his chest, along with a heavy cape. The boy brushed the fur from the neckline out of his face as he sat up and nudged Eugene awake. He looked around to see the man, his uncle, petting the neck of their white horse as he set up their feed bags and water. The man looked to be talking to the animals but was too far away to hear. His eyes drifted over to his aunt as she started to load up the campsite with Eugene’s help, they worked together wordlessly as a unit. As a family. Varian smiled at the thought, this was his family.

Back when he was younger he always thought of his family as broken, that he was broken. The distance between him and his mother was physical in the regard that she was no longer of this world, to his knowledge. But his father had always felt so physically close, but so so far. Just out of reach, he made Varian strive for something that he thought he could achieve until that snowy night. Now it was clear to him, it was accepted. He would always miss a woman he would never know, and he would never know his father, a man he desperately missed. He would never be enough for his father, a fact that he wished wasn’t true and didn’t want to believe for the longest time. But you could only run from fate for so long before it caught up. However, he knew now that just because he wasn’t enough for one man, didn’t mean that he wasn’t enough. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t, that he wasn’t worthy of, having a family.

This family was strange, he’d admit. A group of four with no relation except for a mutual bond brought together on a mission. Each with lives that separated then somehow came together, their strings of fate tied and twisted into a beautifully confusing knot. They weren’t related in the slightest, but they had something more important than that. Family wasn’t just blood, Varian had now learned. Family was love and trust and understanding and all those messy complicated emotions jumbled together. Family was laughter and tears and it was easy and difficult and simple and mindspinningly complicated all at the same time. Family was to be proud of who stood beside you through it all. This found family was a sense of pride.

Realizing that he had been mulling over his musings to himself with a goofy little grin upon his lips, Varian stood quickly and hurried over to where his uncle was feeding the animals, their pets. The man was talking to them as well, a side effect from being alone for so long. Unlike Adira, Hector had an audience to hear his thoughts, not a human audience but sometimes he preferred them over humans. Or maybe that’s what he repeatedly told himself. He’d tell himself that he preferred to talk to his animals than humans. Tell himself that his friends were traitors and that he was better off without them in his life. Tell himself lies until the painful truths weren’t so painful. Until what he thought to be true just wasn’t.

The man turned as Varian approached, shaking his head. He noticed how the look in the boy’s eyes changed at the motion, how for a split second there was a small bit of hurt. He knew that Varian was envisioning a time when something, no someone, had shaken their head at him in the same disapproving way. Making a mental note to avoid those little gestures, Hector forced a smile that didn’t look like a sneer and affectionately punched the kid’s shoulder.

“We really gotta work on stealth lessons, V. Then you can start scaring Adira.” He joked and took his cape from the boy’s outstretched hands, putting it on before a voice in his ear frightened the man so badly he jumped in surprise.

“Oh really?” Adira asked as she chuckled at the way Hector leapt off the ground and spun around. The man grumbled to himself.

“Sorry, mistook you for the tree demon I’ve been living with for the past twenty or so years.” He muttered, using humor in order to mask the very real fear that had set in. The fear that the spear buried into the heart of the Great Tree had dislodged somehow and that the ghosts of Zhan Tiri were going to possess his body. Luckily that never happened but the nights waking up in a cold sweat did. “Not the best roommate but neither were you.”

“At least I didn’t have a rhino in the room,” Adira grumbled but watched as Hector, in very real offense, covered the ears of the gray animal as it munched on the plants Hector had gathered.

“Hey! He heard that!” Hector turned and affectionately stroked the rhino’s horn, mumbling about how Adira didn’t mean that and how she was just cranky from waking up early. Varian grinned as he watched them bicker between themselves. At first, he had been afraid, nervous about their fighting. Though he had soon realized that their arguments were simply out of friendship, one that he wished to have himself someday.

Adira chuckled at the two before leaving to pack up the rest of camp, Ruddiger ran over to the two from where he had been napping with the binturongs atop the rhino’s back in the saddle. It seems like the raccoon liked their new companions. Varian knelt down to greet his pet but was met with surprise as the creature ran up Hector’s leg instead.

“Wha- Ruddiger!” Varian sputtered out in disbelief before Hector waved him off and opened the little pouch he had on his side, pulling out some dried apple that Ruddiger happily took.

“Relax, V, I’m not stealing your pet,” Hector replied and picked the raccoon up by the scruff, setting him in Varian’s outstretched arms. “Sometimes they need treats to be motivated.” He mumbled and motioned his head over to the two binturongs. Making a tsking noise with his tongue, the two animals looked up before climbing down and intertwining between their owner’s legs. Hector tossed the two some bits of the dried fruit before patting the rhino’s side, getting him to stand.

“Aren’t you going to ride in the caravan with us?” Varian asked, a little disappointed as he wanted to talk to and learn more about the man that he had just met the night before. He wanted to know more about the family that he could have had, the relationships that disappeared from his life due to his father.

“Eh.” The man shrugged and glanced over to the caravan where Eugene and Adira were sitting upfront. “That tiny space? Not a chance.” Hector shivered at the thought and climbed aboard the gray creature with his two binturongs by the side. “I’d let you ride up here with me, V, but it’s probably best you stay inside. Ride may get a little dangerous.”

With that, Hector signaled for the animal to advance to be in line with the front of the caravan. The danger? Well, this was the day that the group must make it through the Great Tree. While the tree itself had been subdued due to the efforts of the Brotherhood years ago, there was still plenty of evil that lurked inside. Varian nodded and hurried to climb into the back of the caravan with Ruddiger, closing the door and sitting down. At first, he had sat on the same storage crate Hector had made himself at home on, wanting to know what attracted his uncle to the box. The answer was still unclear so he quickly settled at the seat below the window to the front.

“Hector?” Adira asked as she flicked the reins and started off their journey. Eugene sat next to her to listen to their conversation. Not to eavesdrop or to manage out of distrust, but just to listen and be around the two adults who he had taken quite a liking to. In a way, they reminded him of his relationship with Lance, his best friend, and former thieving partner. Although time had passed and they’ve both changed, their friendship held them together.

“Wha?” Hector replied and rested his chin on the leg he had brought up onto the saddle, the other leg hanging off the other side. “Are you gonna tell me to sit correctly?” He asked with a pout and rolled his eyes to make it clear that if he did choose to sit correctly, it was because he wanted to.

“No, I don’t care if you fall.” The woman replied and was greeted with a piece of dried fruit to the head. What was it with them throwing fruit at each other? She turned and popped the piece into her mouth to make a point before continuing. “I was just going to ask about that room with the scrolls.”

“Yeah yeah. I left it how we found it.” Hector brushed her off but looked back with a glint in his eyes. “But I may have found one small addition I think you’d quite like.”

Adira raised an eyebrow only for Hector to continue smugly. “I did some reading, some research-”

“Didn’t know you could read.” Adira scoffed under her breath but of course, the man heard.

“Actually, apparently I cannot because I haven’t been able to decode the stupid thing,” Hector grumbled and looked over at her.

“Maybe you just need all the pieces together. And someone else.” The two exchanged a knowing look before turning to look straight ahead. They both had come to the same conclusion after talking to the young alchemist, maybe he would be the one with the answers, to finally crack the code and shed some light on the past. Even if he wasn’t, they would support him either way, that’s what family did.

Eugene sat up a little straighter at this and turned to the two who had just stopped conversing. “What is it?” The man asked only to be greeted with that knowing smile Adira loved to give him. 

Even though he had learned to trust her mysterious ways, his curiosity still begged for the answers. They could be one step closer to their goal, to his goal. To bring his faith back, to give himself hope again, and then to destroy the black rocks for good. A part of him also wondered whether joining the Moonstone and Sundrop could get rid of the amber, maybe Varian could right both his wrongs, both his mistakes. Eugene hoped he could of course, but a small darker fragment of his mind wondered if that would be the right thing. To give Varian back to the man who damaged him so, and then made Varian believe that he was the problem. Eugene knew this wasn’t true; no one was born damaged, the ones around them broke them.

“Something that could possibly help us understand the Moonstone and Sundrop a little better,” Adira replied and looked over at him. She saddened when the man’s eyes lit up. The woman was hesitant to tell him they could know more about the two elusive forces because that would give him hope. Maybe hope was what he needed to press on, but false hope, false hope only destroyed more than it temporarily held together. “Don’t get too excited, Fish Skin. Hector and I have no idea what it could tell us.”

“Yeah what else is new?” Eugene joked around before nodding and doing his best to push down his fluttery heart though the feeling remained. With each passing day, they gained more ground and more knowledge to bring his love back. To bring his life back, and Varian’s too. Now his thoughts of a plan completed weren’t just of Rapunzel’s return, it was also of Varian’s self-forgiveness.

The terrain around them was already rocky the night before when they had been chased up the mountain, the man doing the chasing now lounging on the back of his pet shooting the breeze and pointing out interesting clouds. Though the farther they traveled towards the massive tree with its twisty roots and branches that spun together like some sort of terrifyingly complex cage, the more the landscape around them shifted to red rocks. Varian had been given a few pebbles of the earth from Adira, always excited to present the young boy with something possibly useful to his experiments, even though she didn’t truly understand them herself. The boy was leaning out the front window, his head rested between Eugene and Adira as they traveled. The group as a whole had started to join in on the cloud game Adira and Hector had been playing. They had explained it as something the Brotherhood would do while traveling to kill time, but it started out as a childhood game and then one they would play between training sessions. Adira and Hector had both smiled in the same way as they recounted the memories, that wistful smile that wasn’t quite in the present moment while the owner remembered what once was.

“Second cloud from the right, crocodile on its side balancing a pie on the second claw,” Varian replied smugly, knowing that he had taken the lead in their strange cloud finding game with that one.

“Wha? No it doesn-”

“Turn your head, Hector.” Adira didn’t even have to look up from the path ahead when she corrected the man who made a quiet “oooohh” sound before shifting from where he was laying on the back of his rhino.

“Looks like you didn’t get your cloud spotting game from farmer boy, V.” Hector chuckled and rested a hand under his head. “He couldn’t pick out a shape to save his life.”

Varian laughed along but the sound died out a little too sharply, the adults in the group all exchanged subtle worrying glances at each other. It wasn’t difficult to recognize when Varian was bombarded with a thought about his past, a thought about himself that shifted his mood for the worse.

“Hey, V. I didn’t mean it like-”

“No, it’s okay,” Varian mumbled and did his best to put on a smile though he wasn’t fooling anyone. The group was filled with those who were used to hiding behind a facade, whether it was confidence, anger, or another emotion altogether. Ruddiger even noticed and cuddled up next to his face. “It’s just that Dad never liked my imagination. He said it distracted me too much.”

For Eugene, the image painted of Quirin from Varian’s words was clear, for Adira and Hector not so much. While everything Varian said was accurate to how Quirin acted, and the two fully believed the child’s claims, it was still difficult to imagine how drastically their friend had changed. Maybe they all changed, but did they change for the worst as well? Was it her fault for listening to him and stopping contact? Could she have saved this poor boy from who his father became? Was it his fault for the harsh words he spoke to the two, for how he acted out of anger and bitterness? Could he have helped the boy if he had just swallowed his pride?

“Well, Quirin was always like that. Once…” Adira spun into one of those tangents she’d often go on about their shenanigans, only this time Hector was there to present his rather… insightful commentary if a little irrelevant at times. Hearing about this, this different version of his father made Varian smile slightly, though he couldn’t help but wonder what caused the man to change. Could it have been his mother? Could it have been him? Eugene’s hand on his arm pulled him back to reality where Adira had just found a cloud that resembled a dolphin and river otter having tea in a hot air balloon, making her the new leader on the scoreboard. Hector grumbled at this and was about to search for another before they arrived at the entrance to the Great Tree.

“We’re home guys.” The man reached down to pet his rhino’s head affectionately, the binturongs followed suit, one jumping up for attention that Hector was happy to provide.

As the group entered the Great Tree the air was immediately filled with a distinct smell of rotting wood. Vines and dead plants were strewn all over the floor, making travel trickier for the horses. Eugene gently pushed Varian’s head back, not wanting the boy to get too freaked out about what they couldn’t see in the darkness. The Great Tree had a mini forest on the inside, dense with plants and who knows what animals lurked in its depts.

“Hector, you lived like this for twenty-five years?” Adira asked and wrinkled her face in disgust as a squelch could be heard from Max stepping in some decaying plant matter. Eugene grimaced in agreement and glanced over at the only member of the group not horrified and disgusted by the environment.

“Yeah, isn’t it great?” Isn’t it great? To be able to sleep in the same space his friends had once slept beside him for twenty-five years, to be surrounded by their phantom voices and reminded of who they once were, of who he once was. Isn’t it great?

“I wouldn’t call a creepy forest inside a demon tree great, but you do you, bud,” Eugene replied and sat forwards a little bit, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword at the smallest noise. Adira and Hector both snicked at his alertness, to which Eugene huffed indignantly.

“First time?” Adira and Hector both teased in unison.

“What? First time traveling through a giant tree that used to be the stronghold for an ancient demon? Honestly, it’s weirder that you two’ve done this before.” Eugene deflected, teasing the two to take away from his own fear. He was distracted by a subtle tap to his leg and looked down to see the gloved hand of Varian reaching through the window. He relaxed slightly and took the child’s hand in his own, squeezing gently.

With Adira and Hector’s extensive knowledge of the tree, they were able to make it to the scroll room without much delay. They had almost taken a rest stop as Varian showed interest in a cluster of ancient statues, but decided to push on. Not that the three adults didn’t want to allow the boy to explore his passions, but because a low growl had come from something near the area and they didn’t want to stick around to find the source. That didn’t mean the two didn’t point out specific locations in the tree that brought back fond memories or embarrassing moments that the other still couldn’t get over.

“Hey! Sister! Remember that time you thought Quirin’s cape was a-”

“Hector if you don’t stop right now I will cut you,” Adira replied and put a hand on her sword to show that she was not joking around. Hector only extended his blade and hopped up excitedly on the rhino’s back. Just like old times.

“Hey hey! Maybe we shouldn’t have any infighting!” The voice of reason called from within the caravan. Yup, exactly like old times. The two sighed and exchanged challenging looks before nodding and settling back down.

The group once focused and outside the scroll room got off of their respective rides. Hector opened the back of the caravan and shoved the protestant binturongs inside.

“I know you two love to swim in the pond but you also get all the scrolls wet,” He explained through strained words, struggling to contain the two. Varian climbed out of the caravan with the flower jar tucked underneath his arm, per Eugene’s request after realizing the binturongs and Ruddiger would be left alone in the caravan. Hector shut the door quickly and ruffled Varian’s hair as he walked past, Varian’s eyed the place where Hector’s sword would extend from, making a note to ask about the weapon later.

The scroll room was disheveled like the rest of the Great Tree, Hector really did fit right in. Gnarled roots and tangled plants covered the floor in front of a large pool of still water. Two larger trees grew at the edges of the pool, their long roots dipping into the liquid but also climbing the side of the blue wooden walls. Opposite of the water were two large shelves overflowing with scrolls, full of the ancient texts written in languages lost to time. Varian’s face lit up as he handed the jar to Eugene and went over, setting his backpack down against the wall before filling it up with scrolls. He’d open a few on occasion and marvel at the letters before placing them away neatly. 

A small nagging voice tugged at his mind, hoping that one of these scrolls would give him the knowledge needed to bring back the princess. Even after all this time on their journey he still didn’t know if his claim would be true. Looking over at Eugene, he wondered if their newfound companionship rested solely on his claim that the Princess would return. If he knew, if he knew what Varian didn’t know, then would everything they had crumble?

Eugene helped Adria fill up cases with the scrolls, even if they didn’t have information regarding their mission, the knowledge within would be valuable nonetheless. Eventually, Adira broke off from the work and walked over to Hector, nodding as the man brought out a wooden box with a golden latch. The two motioned for Varian to come over and lifted the lid to reveal three pieces of parchment. Kneeling down to put the pieces together, Adira pulled out the fourth piece she had been given all those years ago from her pocket and set it in place. With a flash of light the pieces, now together once again, mended together and became whole once more. Varian and Eugene’s jaws dropped at the sight while Hector rolled up the scroll and put it into the box to give to Varian.

“This is the Demanitus scroll.” Hector started out, watching the boy’s eyes widen with amazement. 

“The Demanitus?” He asked in wonder and stared down at the box in his hands.

“Don’t get too excited, V. You do not wanna know what I had to go through to get those pieces.” Hector grumbled some nonsense about “a woman more annoying than Adira” which earned him a smack to the back of the head, as well as something about monkeys. 

He tried not to remember his trip to Old Corona to find one of the pieces. It was one of the only times he had left his post to search for the scroll. He guessed, deep down, he was also searching for a way to be freed from the Moonstone’s clutches. Sneaking into the home was simple, the door unlocked and the only sounds seemed to come for a room that was closed off. He had simply taken the piece and left after a brief moment of staring at the picture of his friend with his new family hanging above the chest. Once he learned of Quirin’s fate, Hector wondered if he had abandoned Varian inadvertently. Maybe if he had looked in the door to the workroom things would have been different.

“Anyways,” Adira replied to try and get them back on track. Hector rolled his eyes at her and sighed that she was no fun.

“Anyways, this scroll should be able to tell us all about how to wield the powers of the Moonstone and Sundrop. Only issue-”

“We have no idea what it says.” Adira finished for him to Hector’s annoyance. The woman finished his sentences so many times that for a while after their separation he’d leave half of his words unsaid, convinced that Adira would finish the thought

“That seems to be a running theme with you two. Not knowing things.” Eugene mused as he walked over with the flower underneath one arm.

“Watch it, Fish Skin,” Hector wasn’t one for nicknames, but after seeing how apprehensive Eugene got towards it, he couldn’t help himself. “At least we have the scroll.”

“And! The mind who can decode it.” Adira ruffled Varian’s hair and nodded. Varian smiled subconsciously and stared down at the scroll. Looking around at their expressions, he knew, They all believed in him, they trusted him and that was all he ever wanted.

“I- I won’t let you all down! I’ll make you proud!” Varian hurried to place the scroll in the safety of the caravan before continuing their packing.

“He knows he already has, right?” Hector asked as the boy left the room. Eugene smiled softly and turned to help Adira with another crate. If he didn’t know, then they would make sure they told him often.

Upon the boy’s return, they were nearly finished packing up the scrolls, the viable ones at least. Years of unregulated conditions had taken a toll on some of the parchment. While Eugene was carrying a filled crate to the caravan and Adira carried two with Hector sat atop, Varian drifted over and opened one of the scrolls out of curiosity. He noticed that Eugene had left the jar with the Sundrop on one of the shelves and walked over towards it.

“H-hey you guys? This scroll already has a translated incantation on it!” He called out and watched as the group looked over their shoulder at him. Varian’s thoughts raced, if Gothel was able to harness the healing ability of the Sundrop simply by singing to it, maybe that was what must be done to use its power. Logically the same should apply for this incantation. Setting the jar down since he didn’t want to drop it, Varian knelt down beside it and read over the paper.

“Wither and decay,” His voice rang out clear and strong, Adira and Hector glanced over their shoulders as a darkness seemed to wash over the room. Eugene peeked out from inside the caravan to see what looked like black tendrils made of smoke surrounding the boy knelt beside the jar. The boy’s head was hung as he rose in a robotic manner, arms drooped by his side as the black smoke expanded around him. At his feet the plants that littered the floor wilted and died. However, the Sundrop didn’t shrivel but turned gray and then dark jet black. The tendrils curled and wrapped around the trees, climbed the walls of the room, and surrounded the tiny boy. Lifting his head, completely black eyes could be seen with dark smoke hovering around the edges.

“Kid? Kid stop!” Eugene cried out and rushed towards him from outside the room, Adira and Hector followed.

“End this destiny”

Reaching out for the boy, Eugene was knocked aside and tackled to the ground by Hector who pinned him firmly. “Wh-what are you doing? He needs me!” Eugene cried out, no it couldn’t end like this. He couldn’t let Varian face this alone, not after what happened last time.

“Break these earthly chains”

“Stop fighting!” Hector hissed and pinned the man’s arms by his head. “You touch him and we’ll have bigger problems than this.” 

While Adira and Hector never heard of this incantation before, they were completely unaware of what was in the room, however, they were familiar with the properties of the Moonstone. The destructive life-draining, soul-sucking properties. The feeling in the room was similar to that of the room where the Moonstone was held. They knew better than to touch someone overtaken by the darkness.

“And set the spirit free”

Adira struggled to approach the boy, the feelings of life and happiness she had felt around the group left her the more she pushed towards him. The air itself felt like it was tugging against her efforts to reach her nephew. Looking up, a single inky black tear fell onto his freckled cheeks from the smoky haze around his eyes.

Using the tip of her sword to gently push the jar containing the Sundrop flower out of the way, she noticed how its golden petals had a black void-like appearance.

“Varian, I’m so sorry about this.” Adira lifted her right hand with the circular symbol and set it on her blade. Eugene’s pained screams filled the air as he saw that happen. Drawing her sword, she sighed and glanced towards the water.

“The spirit free”

In one fluid motion, she turned the blade so that it was perpendicular to the ground, swinging the flat surface towards the child and knocking him into the water. Suddenly all the smoky tendrils flowed out of the room along with the feeling of lifelessness, collecting back into the corrupted Sundrop before disappearing entirely. The flower returned to its original state with its golden glow.

Eugene relaxed as Hector climbed off of him, dusting himself off before rushing through the water towards the boy who was picking himself up.

“You’re welcome!” Hector called after the man and hurried to join them.

Eugene knelt down in the water with a splash and hugged the trembling boy close in his arms. Varian’s hands gripped parts of Eugene’s vest tightly as he sobbed. This was it, he had really messed up now. After that- after what he had become, there was no way any of them could trust him now. He had ruined it, everything, like always.

Adira and Hector stood at the edge of the water watching, neither of them quite sure what to do in that situation. They could easily take down any beast or mission that was thrown their way, but this, this was an entirely new concept they didn’t fully understand. They knew they didn’t understand so they watched from the sidelines. Present if needed.

“I’m sorry- I’m so so sorry.” Varian choked out and lifted his teary face from Eugene’s chest. Varian was completely soaked in the front and Eugene from basically the waist down along with a large wet spot on his chest.

“It’s okay kid, it’s okay.” He whispered and tried to pull him back into the hug though he was just pushed away as Varian backed up to his feet.

“No! No, it’s not okay! I- I always do this!” The alchemist brought his gaze down to his own hands, then to Adira and Hector watching, Eugene still knelt in the pool. Finally, his eyes landed on his own reflection in the water. “I-I ruin everything and put everyone in danger!”

“Kid-” Eugene reached out and stood slowly only for Varian to wince back at his gesture as he had all those weeks ago at the start of their journey.

“Don’t touch me! You don’t understand! I- I-” He held his head in his hands and shook it, balling his fingers into fists. “I’m a- I’m a monster! I hurt everyone around me!”

Adira and Hector both glanced over at each other, worried. Hector straightened and walked towards the boy who was hunching in on himself. “V, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not! First, it’s my dad, and then-and then Rapunzel. And now you all!” He was practically screaming at this point, his voice shaking with self-hatred as he shrank away from the ones he loved, from the ones that loved him. 

“I hurt people.” He whispered softly and sank to his knees in the water. He rested his forehead on his knees, expecting the group to turn and leave him. He waited for the sounds of them stepping away, waited for him to be alone once again with nothing but his own failures. “Just leave me behind like everyone always does.”

He could only pretend to be something more than the brokenness that made him up for so long. No matter how hard he tried to hide who he was, everyone always saw past the facade. Everyone always decided that he wasn’t worth the effort. Everyone always left. They could find another person to decipher the scroll, they could find someone better, someone whole. Not only was he broken and trouble and messed up, he was replaceable.

The sound of sloshing water grew louder as the footsteps approached him, yelping slightly as he was pulled into a fierce hug by Eugene, then Hector joined them in the water as well. Adira hesitated before taking in a quick breath and walking over, putting a hand on Varian’s shoulder. The tears returned, this time tears of shock yet joy.

“I-I don’t understand!” Varian choked out and felt the hug tighten around him. He shook his head, after everything he did in the past how could they ever forgive him? He was the same person who stole the flower, the same person who killed the Princess. He changed for the worst and there was no turning back for him. “Can’t you see what I’ve done?”

Hector gently pet the boy’s head and looked over at Eugene, then Adira. “We’ve all done things we regret, Varian,” Adria said softly and squeezed his shoulder. Varian just shook his head and whimpered, groaning softly and shaking.

“But what if- What if I don’t regret it?” He cried out and lifted his head. “What if I’m still the same person I was before and I’ve just tricked everyone? Even me?”

Eugene stood up slowly and helped Varian up, Hector stood as well and Adira pulled her hand away quickly. “I know you’re not that same kid anymore Varian,” Eugene said in a reassuring manner.

“H-how?”

The man sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, blinking for a second to remember. “Because when I think about that boy’s eyes and I look into yours, they are not the same. You are not the same.”

“An old friend once told us that you can tell a lot about someone by looking into their eyes,” Adira added with Hector’s nod. Varian wiped his tears on the back of his gloves, the other held Eugene’s hand tightly. 

“Even though you may not believe it, kid” Eugene led the group towards the land and bent over to pick up the flower’s jar, handing it to Varian. “We all see the good in you.”

“And we’ll keep telling you until you can see it too,” Hector added and picked up the last of the scrolls, including the one with the Decay Incantation. Hey, it could have some use.

The group finished loading the caravan, Hector let out his binturongs so that the animals could splash around in the pool with the promise that they wouldn’t be allowed inside the caravan until they were dry. Traveling with two very wet but happy binturongs walking next to the ridden rhino, the group continued their journey past the Great Tree.

Later that night they had stopped for a short rest before they would begin traveling bright and early. Varian had set up a space for himself along one wall of the caravan. The Demanitus scroll was hung up and the wall itself became a place for him to write out his thoughts and ideas. Adira and Hector had helped him clean up the space before going to nap outside. Varian had insisted he would be asleep soon but was still awake when Hector returned to check up on him.

“V, it’s time for bed. Come on.” He said firmly, and to his surprise, Varian listened and got up from where he was working, blowing out the candle and following him outside. Hector sat down next to Adira who was fast asleep and was about to settle in before Varian spoke.

“C-can I ask you something?” He whispered softly around the fire. Hector nodded though his eyes were already closed. “Back in the tree, why didn’t you all just give up on me?”

Hector’s green eyes opened at the question and he sat up a bit, leaning forwards into his lap with his elbows resting on his knees. “Cuz you’re family V.” Hector smiled softly at Adira, a silent thank you before turning his attention back to the boy. “And we don’t give up on family.”

Varian smiled at Hector, his uncle, a member of his family. “Thank you, Uncle Hector.” He replied and rolled over to go to bed.

Chuckling to himself, Hector turned his head away from the group as he rolled over to sleep, wiping a happy tear from his eye. He was Varian’s Uncle Hector.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// I really said 'screw canon, only Brotherhood Family time' and you know what? No regrets


	6. The Turning Of The Screws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian is working tirelessly to prove himself after the events of the Great Tree and is making substantial progress on decoding the incantations. Eugene receives a cryptic message from an even more cryptic source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// Hey did you miss me? No? Yeah valid. Sorry for the break I kinda wasn't feeling the best. But here's chapter 6!

After the events of the Great Tree travel had slowed a bit as Eugene wanted to give Varian more time to recover along their journey. Although the alchemist had insisted that he was fine, the three adults could tell that he was still pretty rattled after what had happened. Varian’s night terrors had shifted after that, previously he was kept from sleep by visions of his father shouting, the battle of Old Corona, or some other variation of what happened in his troubled past. There was a lot to choose from. Now, now his night time battles consisted of him being trapped in his own body, unable to control his limbs as black smoke enveloped his friends, his family. Eugene and Adira and Hector. He’d be woken up by the sounds of them choking for air, only to see all three resting around him. His hyperventilated breaths would be soothed by either Eugene’s hug, Adira’s stories and ramblings, or Hector taking him on a late-night rhino ride. Their care and comfort helped calm his racing heart and mind, but the guilt and fear of possibly hurting and betraying them twisted his gut still.

This was the one thing he absolutely could not allow himself to destroy. Adira’s and Hector’s mended relationship brought the two so much joy. He noticed how much happier Adira had been with Hector around, how she’d smile more often, and laugh just a little harder at his comments. He noticed how Hector was much more at ease, no longer having that sneer on his face whenever he attempted to grin. How his eyes had softened and affection came easier. He even saw Eugene benefit from the group, joking around and being able to speak about Rapunzel more openly to them.

Varian had never been happier but so terrified in his entire life. Terrified because only he knew that this new friendship and joy was merely a castle built upon a foundation of lies. One lie, one lie big enough to destroy everything they had built or rebuilt or healed. It seemed like everything Varian did lend to some sort of destruction, but this time things had to be different. He had to be different.

In the far back pages of his notebook, he scribbled his thoughts about how he could possibly bring Rapunzel back. Pages and pages of questions and frustrations but, most importantly, not one viable answer. Varian hated not having the answers, usually, he’d experiment and work nonstop in order to find them. Pushing himself to the limits of hunger and exhaustion in his search. He saw how well that worked out in the past. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t since each experiment and test he ran had the possibility of hurting the flower. He was incredibly lucky that the Decay Incantation hadn’t damaged the plant in any way, from what he could tell. He was incredibly lucky that he didn’t damage the plant in any way. Lucky that the only person hurt from his foolishness was himself, and he deserved every bit of it. Experimenting would be too dangerous to risk, not to mention he wouldn’t be able to hide it from Eugene who believed that Varian knew exactly what he was doing. He believed that Varian could save her. Eugene believed in him. At that point Varian wasn’t desperate for a way to stay out of prison as he had already accepted his fate even before the battle. He was desperate for a way to make Eugene happy. To bring back the love of his life solely because he wanted Eugene to be happy. Even if they did bring Rapunzel back, if he did have the answers, and Varian was still thrown in prison, he’d be okay with it as long as Eugene was.

The front pages of his journal were dedicated to decoding the Demanitus scroll. While he did prefer to write out his thoughts directly on the wall, Adira and Hector had allowed him to use some of their face paint specifically for that purpose, Varian always liked to play it safe and keep another copy of the code he was so diligently working on. Once again he felt pressure, the pressure to do good, and to help his friends. However, this feeling was different from the one he had felt around his father, or after his father had been encased in the amber. That old feeling was fueled by self-hatred and desperation and fear, this, this new feeling was strangely motivating in a way. It pushed Varian to succeed and to find the answers, but unlike when he couldn’t dissolve the amber or do seemingly anything right at home, when he felt frustrated with his work or just simply tired, he could take a break without the fear of letting everyone down. He wasn’t afraid of failure for that particular project. He was actually excited to work on it.

Varian took a step back from his work and accidentally created a red streak on his chin with the paintbrush. He had a bad habit of resting whatever writing utensil he was using against his face while he stepped back in contemplation. He was pretty sure he had worked out the first two incantations and created a solid translation key. That’s right, the first two. After using his knowledge of the Healing and Decay incantations he was able to work backward and create his translation key. That key unlocked the knowledge that there was a third incantation on the scroll, the one he was currently translating in his journal before Ruddiger squeaked and brought him a beaker. The raccoon had been working outside near where the rhino and binturongs were resting. The adults in the group had gone to get supplies in a nearby town while Varian said he’d like to stay behind to work on the translation. He had been so excited about finding the third incantation that he wanted it to be a surprise for when they returned. Almost like a present for the tree, a thank you for believing in him.

Ruddiger’s noises caught his attention as the mammal hurried over donning the matching set of goggles and black gloves Varian had given him. He remembered how excited Hector had gotten about them, and how he couldn’t stop talking to Adira about how they needed to get something for the binturongs and rhino. Adira had rolled her eyes but nodded along. Taking the beaker filled with brown liquid, he lifted it upwards excitedly.

“Ah yes! Thank you, Ruddiger. This is perfect!” He giggled a bit at the end before dissolving into maniacal laughter. “Warm cocoa will really hit the spot! Thanks, bud!” He pointed at the raccoon who rubbed his tiny gloved hands together in approval. Varian took a sip out of the beaker, simply delicious.

“Hi, Varian.” A voice behind him suddenly spoke, directly behind him. Varian jumped and spat out his drink onto Ruddiger, spinning around to see a very apologetic but amused Adira. She was so quiet that oftentimes she’d sneak up on the child when he was lost in thought without even trying to do so. Hector had joked around and said that they needed to attach a bell to her, which earned him a hefty punch.

“Oh! Ah! Hi! Hi!” Ruddiger used his gloves to wipe the cocoa from his face and was scooped up by Varian. “Sorry, I uh- I wasn’t expecting you guys to be back so soon.”

Adira shrugged and put her hands on her hips, smiling. “Yeah, I guess haggling goes a lot faster if you show off your weapons.” She winked at Varian with a mischievous glint in her eyes that the boy had come to love.

He chuckled and struggled to contain the angry raccoon in his arms. Hector came in carrying two bags of supplies and set them on the corner. Dusting his hands off, he turned and gave Varian a little nod of acknowledgment. “Want me to give him a bath, V?” 

The man offered and motioned towards the animal trying to get the sticky drink out of his fur. He figured that Varian would want to be able to focus on his work. Varian nodded gratefully and handed Ruddiger over into Hector’s arms. Hector was better at giving the stubborn raccoon baths, maybe it was because he was just as persistent and willing to get drenched. Ruddiger chittered in protest but it was no use as Hector left diligently.

“So, how’s it going?” Adira asked and reached over with a cloth she picked up from his table to wipe the red paint off of his cheek. She and Hector had asked to and tried to give Varian a Brotherhood makeover in their down time, but things didn’t really work out since a new outfit wasn’t an option at the moment. They had agreed to continue it later and moved on with their day. Varian was about to answer before Eugene walked in with the final bag of supplies. 

“Oh! Eugene come here!” Varian called excitedly and motioned for the two to follow him to the scroll. He pointed at the symbols on the far left near the image of the sun. “This is the healing incantation,” his hand moved over to point at the symbols underneath the image of the moon. “ This is the decay incantation and,” 

He paused for a second to glance over at the two adults who already seemed very impressed with his work. Excitedly, he continued, pointing to an image of what seemed like an eye with various icons coming out of it. “This ohoho! Is a third incantation!”

Adira and Eugene both exchanged excited glances, they were so proud of everything he had done, everything he had been able to learn and do all by himself. Varian beamed at their silent approval and opened his mouth to further explain, figuring that he could tell Hector again later. Or Adira would.

“It would allow anyone who possesses the Moonstone to wield complete control over the black rocks!” Varian finished and watched both the adults’ eyes light up. Eugene walked over and patted his shoulder affectionately.

“Good job, kid. I’m proud of you.” Varian’s face lit up at that statement, that was all he ever wanted, all he worked for. Just to hear those four words. Without thinking he hugged Eugene’s middle tightly and hurried out of the caravan with his notebook. He had a new thought about the black rocks, the Moonstone and the Sundrop. A new theory as to what could bring the princess back. Now just to see if it actually made sense.

Adira chuckled as the boy ran off and walked over to look at the incantation.

“So,” Eugene started and hesitantly walked closer to her. “Complete control over the black rocks would mean-”

“Absolutely not, Fish Skin.”

“I’m just saying! Maybe if someone could control the Moonstone then you wouldn’t have to merge the Sundrop with it! They could take the black rocks away an-”

Adira cut him off with a draw of her sword, her eyes narrowed. “You don’t know the Moonstone’s power, Fish Skin. You don’t know what happened the last time someone got near it so don’t even try to talk me out of this!” 

He didn’t understand, he didn’t know everything she had been through because of the Moonstone. Everything she gave up in order to find the Sundrop. The sleepless nights, years of solitude, everything she sacrificed for the world. Now she was close, so close to rebuilding what she had lost, and he wasn’t going to stand in her way.

Eugene took a step back and held up his hands, nodding. He’d never seen Adira this angry before, not even when Hector repeatedly touched her face or the two bickered amongst themselves. This was pure rage and it made Eugene’s stomach drop as he was once again reminded that the goofy aloof woman was also a fierce warrior. Whatever must have happened back then, whatever broke the Brotherhood up and destroyed the Dark Kingdom must have been truly horrific for her to react in this way.

Slowly, Adira’s sword lowered and was put in its rightful place on her back. She took in a breath and turned away, narrowing her eyes. “The Moonstone and Sundrop must be merged. It is the only way.” 

She growled, a low noise in sharp contrast to the way her voice rose and sent shivers up Eugene’s spine. Leaving the caravan in a hurry, Eugene sighed and glanced over at the flower which was sitting on the shelf. Reaching over, he affectionately stroked the side and stared back at his own reflection. Sometimes his eyes would trick him and he’d see those bright green eyes staring back at him. He hadn’t had a conversation with the flower for a long time now, he hadn’t talked to her for a long time now.

“It’s okay Sunshine. I’ll get you back, and this time I’ll be by your side through it all.” He promised and gritted his teeth. “I’ll see you again.” Hanging his head as a new wave of grief overcame him, he shook his head. Some days the feeling was so mild he didn’t realize it, other days he could barely see through the haze. At that moment the fog was so dense he couldn’t make out anything besides the jar, besides her.

Since they had saved a little time in the market due to unconventional methods of persuasion, the group decided to start traveling again right away. Adira sat at the reins, a slight bit of tension between herself and Eugene although the man had apologized before the start of the trip. Hector was stretched out on his back, drifting in and out of a nap in the saddle of his rhino. Varian was working, of course he was, it had become more evident how much the boy overworked himself, how it often took all three adults to be able to pry him away from his desk to eat or to sleep. Ruddiger was curled up next to his desk on some boxes and the two binturongs rested by his feet to keep him company as he grumbled to himself. The new theory he had come up with was completely useless, they all were. Every single one was either impossible or would risk destroying the flower, destroying Rapunzel again. He couldn’t risk it and hastily drew a large X over the entire page. Burying his face in his hands, he groaned softly and was only pulled out of his despair by the binturongs who looked up at him worriedly and rested their chins on his lap. Ruddiger scurried over to him and rested on his shoulders.

“Thanks, guys.” The alchemist mumbled and sighed softly, turning the page to work on the translation for the third incantation. He was almost finished with it and eventually held up the journal to inspect his work after writing the final verse. He didn’t dare to say it out loud after what happened last time he read a strange ancient spell, a shiver ran up his spine at the memory. His friends, his family, had feared him that day. He could remember Eugene’s screams, how Adira approached him with caution and terror on her face, even Hector’s tone had shifted. He remembered the last time Eugene looked at him with such fear, and what he did to invoke those emotions.

Although he knew that this new incantation shouldn’t work with the Sundrop, that little bit of irrational fear remained. He didn’t trust it, didn’t trust himself. He knew better than to rely on his judgment, no matter how much everyone else said they trusted him, how much Eugene let him know that all was forgiven, he couldn’t shake that self-loathing. Guilt set in. How dare he not appreciate the efforts that Eugene was making? How dare he not see how hard Adira and Hector worked to make him happy? Why was he being so selfish? Was it because he just wanted to make them tell him again and again? To constantly have them behind him screaming words of encouragement? Why couldn’t he just be happy?

Eventually, they had stopped for the day to camp at the side of the road, Varian’s eyes drifted over across the dirt path to see that there was a large open area. Strange that it wouldn’t have a building or something like that. Brushing the thought aside he watched as Adira set a fire with the powder he had given her. She always gave the vial right back to him whenever she was done, joking around that she didn’t know if she could control herself when Hector was so flammable looking. Hector worked with Eugene to roll two fallen logs over for the group to sit on and rest while the animals all sat down beside the caravan and made themselves at home. Varian scrambled over to get their dinner from the back of the caravan and handed the food out to the other members as they sat around the fire.

Hector and Adira sat next to each other like always, Varian found himself unable to curl up with Eugene as he contemplated his failures all written in the journal. The journal that was tucked into his backpack that he had brought out to sit next to him. He did so to make sure Adira could put the vial of powder away but also because he couldn’t seem to step away from the work. He couldn’t fully relax and set the job aside until he had the answers. He couldn’t and wouldn’t fully relax until he fulfilled his promise made to Eugene long ago. While his words were written in graphite and could be erased from the pages, the words that he had spoken to Eugene couldn’t be taken back so easily. His stomach churned at the thought and his dinner remained untouched for the most part, something that the others noticed.

“Not hungry, kid?” Eugene asked softly and watched Varian nod, poking at the bread the three had picked up in town for a fantastic deal. Eugene exchanged a worried glance with Adira and Hector before hesitantly prying a little more. “Is everything okay?”

Varian’s head lifted and he gave a more enthusiastic nod. “Yea-yeah of course.” Of course, he had to be okay, why shouldn’t he be? For the first time he had friends who wanted to be around him, and a family that loved him, he should be okay. “I’m just tired, been working on the scroll all day.” He mumbled as a weak excuse that Eugene saw right past but nodded. He didn’t want to push when Varian seemed so adamant to keep him out. Though it did pain Eugene to see the boy so distraught and to know that Varian didn’t want to tell him his troubles. It was selfish to think that Varian didn’t trust him, but Eugene couldn’t help it.

“Ey, V.” Hector piped up as the long bit of silence drew out. Varian glanced up at him and pushed his goggles back from where they started to fall off his head. “Why don’t we go on a ride later?” He asked with his arms crossed and motioned his head over to the rhino. Varian’s face lit up at the suggestion, to everyone’s relief.

“Ye-yeah that sounds great!” Varian replied, some fresh air and the walking movements of the rhino may be exactly what he needed to jog his brain. Hector beamed smugly, always glad to be the one to cheer Varian up like it was some strange competition between him and Adira. It was a competition. Adira rolled her eyes at him but smiled as well, at least Varian was happy. 

“Alright! Up you go.” Hector said with a soft strain in his voice as he lifted Varian up onto the rhino’s back. He climbed on behind him and wrapped his arms around the boy to grab the reins. Varian clapped his hands in excitement like a child and held onto the front of the saddle. With a gentle squeeze the rhino lumbered forwards and picked up a bit of speed. Hector smiled down at the boy sitting in front of him and let out a soft sigh. Could this have been their lives if something turned out different? Maybe if he had swallowed his pride and left with the group, maybe they could have had this.

“Don’t go too far!” Adira called after them, only for Hector to answer with the exact same words in a mocking tone. She rolled her eyes at the two before going to sit down next to the fire, across from Eugene. The air between them was stiff before she finally spoke, she had been busy when Eugene apologized and had forgotten to do the same.

“Look. Eugene, about earlier-” Eugene cut her off and shook his head to Adira’s relief. She hated apologizing when she knew she was right.

“It’s okay Adira. I just got a little excited about the possibility.” Eugene replied with a shrug and sighed, leaning back into the log.

Adira looked like she was going to respond, to reassure him that the Princess would be safe once she grabbed the Moonstone, but there was no guarantee. Adira didn’t even know if the princess would even be the embodiment of the Sundrop when she returned or if it would stay in flower form or some other option. She had left that information to Varian but she understood that even he may not have the answers. The woman was already amazed that Varian had figured out how to bring someone back from the dead, and wasn’t too upset that what happened to the Sundrop after was unclear. In fact, she wasn’t upset at all.

Hector and Varian returned a little while later, the ride hadn’t cleared Varian’s mind and brought him the answers he sought, but it did work to put him to sleep. Eugene rose to meet them and held out his arms, taking a sleeping Varian from Hector and walking him over to the campfire. Hector got off and allowed his rhino to walk over to wherever he deemed suitable to sleep. The binturongs were already asleep with Ruddiger napping on top of one. Soon the entire group had drifted off into sleep’s embrace, Hector had tucked his cape over Varian before dozing off next to Adira. Both members slept sat up with their arms across their chest, heads hanging in opposite directions. All was quiet except for the gentle crack of the fire. All was quiet.

“Eugene”

A voice called in a sing-song like cadence from somewhere across the way, towards the distinct area of openness across the dirt road that Varian had taken note of earlier. The man in question lifted his head and sleepily rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands.

“Wh-wha? Sunshine?” He mumbled in confusion and sat up straighter, gently moving Varian who was resting against his shoulder. He positioned the boy on to his side before standing up and drawing his sword. “Who’s there?”

“Eugene”

The voice called again, breathy and light, luring the man away from the light of the campfire, past the parked caravan and across the road. He looked around frantically, eyes wide. That voice, it sounded so calm, so inviting. It resembled a voice he hadn’t heard in a long long time. The voice he would give anything to hear again. Stumbling blindly towards the sound, he reached the barren area and kept walking, following the sound into the trees until he sat light.

“S-sunshine!” He called out and raced towards the source without thinking. All he could think about was her, the girl with golden hair who changed his life and dreams forever. The girl who had become and remained his new dream. He reached the clearing of the forest and slowed down, looking around excitedly before recoiling in shock. Two logs were stationed near an open campfire, a woman with white hair and her face half red, a man with black hair and a blue stripe on his face, and a boy curled up on his side with a fur-trimmed cape as a blanket laid sleeping soundly.

“Wh- how? I just-” He could have sworn that he hadn’t run in a circle, no matter how excited and haphazardly he had charged.

“There you are, Eugene.” The source of the voice stepped out from behind Varian. Now the voice was strong and clear, coming from what looked to be a translucent blue girl shorter than Varian. Eugene jumped back and drew his sword as the girl stepped closer. Eugene eyed her closely as she walked around the sleeping boy, his sword lowering slightly.

“I’d nearly given up on you.” She spoke softly and held her hands together in front of her. Eugene didn’t step back but looked confused. It wasn’t every day that a tiny ghost girl spoke to you after you somehow stumbled across your campsite while traveling in the opposite direction.

“Who are you?” He asked softly and leaned back as the girl floated closer to him.

“A friend! Or at least I’d like to be.” She said as she floated around him and stopped at his other side. “Come.” She said and walked closer towards Varian, Eugene followed quickly to make sure she didn’t hurt him.

“Stay away from him,” Eugene growled as the girl approached his backpack.

“Oh don’t worry, Eugene. These aren’t actually your friends.” She motioned to the sleeping people who Eugene had come to love dearly. “Nothing here is real, but everything here is accurate to reality.”

Eugene turned his head to the side in confusion, something that the girl picked up on. “The things you see right here are not real, but everything here actually exists and is accurate to its real-life counterpart.”

He gave her a slow nod and walked closer as she held out her hand. Pointing to Varian’s bag, he looked towards the girl. It was like he knew exactly what she wanted him to do, but it felt wrong. It felt wrong to look through Varian’s things. It was a betrayal of trust, of the trust that they had worked so hard to rebuild. The man hesitated and took a small step back.

“Go on Eugene. As I said, nothing here is real.” Her voice was so soothing, so calming that Eugene nodded and knelt down near the bag. Under her watchful eye, he carefully opened the first compartment and retrieved the leather journal that Varian was so often seen writing in. 

“Do you recognize that book?” She asked softly, to which Eugene nodded with a scoff.

“Of course! It’s Varian’s and I- I shouldn’t be.” His gaze drifted back down to the journal. The belt around it barely contained the pages spilling with knowledge inside. Eugene reached to undo the buckle before pulling his hand away. He shouldn’t, he couldn’t. What kind of friends looked through each other’s things.

Once against the girl’s voice was there to edge him on. “It’s alright. Open it.”

His fingers unlatched the buckle and pulled the book open. Flipping through the first filled pages until he landed on an empty one. On the page to the left of the empty parchment was the translated third incantation. For some reason a voice inside his head, maybe the girl's voice, pushed him to read and memorize the verses.

“This is just the work Varian’s been doing,” Eugene responded indignantly and grew angry at himself. How dare he even think for a moment that Varian was up to something? How dare he betray their trust and rifle through his things, even if it was technically not real. The feelings of suspicion and distrust he had were real and he should be ashamed.

“Are you sure?” The girl asked and tilted her head to the side. Eugene wanted to say yes, he opened his mouth to say yes but no sound came out. He watched as the girl motioned for him to flip through the pages, which his hands obeyed against his rational thought. 

Looking through blank page after blank page until he stopped at the near end of the book. At a page with a large X on it that crossed out the contents, indicating that that idea had been scrapped. Eugene lifted the journal up closer and squinted as he made out the panicked words and writings. “This won’t work” “how do you bring someone back from the dead?” “NO NO NO” “WRONG”. Looking up in shock, he shook his head. No. His hands flipped through the pages faster, eyes scanning over frantic notes and hash marks until his hand touched the back cover of the journal. The man fell to his knees, dropping the opened book to his side.

Memories of what Varian had said the day of the battle flooded his ears, memories of what he promised at the start of their journey. “Y-yes! Yes, it can. It can bring her back!” He had cried out, he had promised. All those times that Eugene had mentioned seeing Rapunzel again, all those times Varian saw him grieving and telling a flower that he’d bring her back. All those times Varian sat in silence and lied.

The ghost girl had faded during his revelation, but she soon appeared next to his knelt body and turned to him. Eugene reached for the journal he had let fall by his side but it disappeared as his hands wrapped around it, along with the vision of his friends sleeping by the campfire, of Varian sleeping soundly. The light of the fire disappeared but was replaced by the light of the rising sun. The girl spoke.

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Eugene.” The girl said softly, her words were so kind, and her tone so sincere. Eugene was so, so lost, so confused, so betrayed. Everything, everything he thought he knew about the kid was built upon a lie. Everything they've been through, how much of it was just for personal salvation? Did Varian just pretend to be his friend like he pretended to know how to bring Rapunzel back to stay out of prison? Did he just use Eugene’s love for the princess to save himself? Did Varian really just use him?

Eugene choked on a sob as tears spilled out of his eyes. “No! No, you’re lying! This is a trick!” 

The girl’s voice spoke once again. “Sometimes the most painful truths are the most difficult to accept.” 

Eugene closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, streams of tears now flowed down his cheeks. No, no he couldn’t. He couldn’t and wouldn’t accept this because it wasn’t the truth. He couldn’t accept that everything was a lie. Varian knew, Varian knew. He was sure of it, he had faith in the child. Varian knew.

Eugene opened his eyes, brows furrowed in anger towards the child but she was gone. His anger wasn’t just directed at her, it was at himself. How dare he believe that Varian was lying, how dare he even entertain the idea. He shook his head and stood up, turning to look at the sunrise. It was getting early.

Getting to his feet, Eugene shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Maybe he had been working a little too hard recently and this strange hallucination was due to anxiety about Rapunzel. Adira’s words probably got to him more than he cared to admit, even to himself, and they manifested in some strange dream. Starting to walk towards the campsite, Eugene shook his head at himself and rubbed his tired eyes. He’d keep this strange vision to himself, he was too ashamed to admit that his trust had faltered, even for a split second in a dream. He was too ashamed to come to terms with what had happened back there.

By the time he got back, Adira and Hector were already cleaning up camp. Brotherhood tradition. Adira nodded to him as he returned and he got a wave from Hector who had returned from his task of fetching water for the horses.

“Didn’t take you for an early morning walk kind of guy,” Adira said as Eugene walked past, to which Eugene shrugged slightly and went to help Hector, responding to Adira’s comment over his shoulder.

“I thought I’d mix things up today.” He replied, he lied. Adira raised an eyebrow but didn’t pry and continued doing her thing. Hector glanced over at the man as he brought out the horses’ feed bags. Eugene’s eyes lingered on Varian’s backpack that was next to the sleeping boy before he pried his eyes away forcefully.

“Wow you look awful,” Hector said as the other man set up the feed bags, punching him on the shoulder affectionately. It was just like Hector to start the day off like that with no warning, it was endearing in a strange way but that was how you could describe everything about Hector. Eugene admitted that it was true, lack of sleep did not look good on him. Glancing at his reflection in the water bucket, he jumped back as he noticed that he had a cowlick. Dipping his hand into the water as Hector snickered and left, Eugene smoothed out his hair quickly and sighed.

He had a cowlick up until the day he met Rapunzel and she hit him over the head with her frying pan. It was a little sheepish to say, but now the idea of having a cowlick terrified him to an unhealthy degree because it reminded him of a time before he met Rapunzel. It reminded him of who he was before he met Rapunzel. To have a cowlick would be like he never met her in the first place, and he couldn’t bear the thought. Even now, without her, he could always be thankful of the impact she had on him. Of how she turned his entire life upside down and around. She gave him purpose, she gave him hope, she saw a part of him that no one else saw. When everyone in the entire world just saw a lowly thief by the adopted name of Flynn Rider, she saw Eugene Fitzherbert.

Varian had gotten up by the time camp was packed, no one wanted to wake the boy prematurely since he had been staying up awfully late working on the scroll. They tended to let him sleep and sometimes would even pick him up and carry him to the caravan. Other times he’d lay behind Hector on his rhino and the gentle walking pattern of the beast would rock him into a sound sleep. Looking around, the boy picked up his bag and wandered over to Eugene who was sitting up front to drive. Varian hadn’t been sitting upfront due to working on the scroll, and he had missed the man. Climbing up, he noticed how Adira climbed onto the back of Hector’s rhino, sitting behind Hector instead of sitting at the front seat of the caravan. Varian smiled at this and climbed onto the bench.

Eugene looked over at him, the man seemed tired. Maybe a lack of sleep? Varian tilted his head to the side slightly and set his bag on the other side of him so that he was closer to Eugene. Ruddiger ran up to him, having previously been hanging out with Adira and Hector on the rhino’s back. The raccoon settled down into Varian’s lap and curled up with soft chittering noises. Varian noticed how Eugene’s gaze settled just past the boy’s shoulder, on his backpack, before resting on Varian. Eugene smiled softly and reached over to ruffle his hair, knocking his goggles down. The boy smiled and pushed the lenses back upwards onto his head, leaning back against the backrest of the caravan seat. Eugene flicked the reins and started the horses along the dirt road again. 

Both Eugene’s and Varian’s eyes landed on the large open space, well, Eugene’s gaze seemed to once again go a little farther beyond the area. Varian was wondering why there was such a wide patch of land in the middle of a densely forested area. There was enough room to build an inn or something there, a house or two or maybe just one really large house. The alchemist shrugged off the thought and pulled out his journal. 

Eugene’s gaze drifted towards the patch of grass, past that into the woods where he had run the night before, where he had been so sure he heard the voice of Rapunzel only to meet, to meet a different girl. He was pretty sure that it was only a vision, only a vision, but everything felt so real. Her words still echoed in his mind “Sometimes the most painful truths are the most difficult to accept”. Luckily he didn’t need to accept it because it wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t. His brown eyes traveled back over to Varian who was leaning against his backpack filled with specimens and writing in his journal. Writing in his journal? Eugene glanced over and noticed how the boy’s brow furrowed slightly in frustration and concentration, his pencil scratched out worlds and then scribbled them out, and what stood out most to the man, how the boy had flipped to the back of the journal when there were still blank pages towards the front and middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// Did you like it?? I hope so. Things are getting real now


	7. To Hold On To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the end of their journey. Arriving in the Dark Kingdom, Hector and Adira reunite with an old friend and learn something new about Eugene's past. However, as the events of the past begin to clarify, the lies themselves start to unravel to deadly consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// Buckle up it's long

It wasn’t difficult to notice the changes in Eugene’s behavior after that night when they camped at the side of the road. Even as Eugene desperately tried to hide it, desperately tried to convince himself that nothing had changed, the words the girl said refused to leave him alone. They fogged his thinking and kept him from sleep. When he did drift off they echoed in his nightmares and filled his head whenever he looked into those large blue eyes. Those eyes used to haunt him, he used to only be able to picture them narrowed and vicious and filled with hatred. Then he saw a different side, the real side of those eyes. Or what he had thought to be real. Those eyes were filled with self-hatred, of personal strife and desperation. Those eyes belonged to a boy who had no one and who felt helplessly alone. Over the course of their trip, Eugene saw healing in those eyes, he saw them take on a new perspective of the world. He saw hope. But that all came crashing down around him abruptly, and no matter how hard he tried to stop the trust from crumbling, it flowed through his grip like grains of sand.

So he forced it, he pretended, he lied. What other choice did he have? He couldn’t let Varian know about what he had seen, how he had rifled through his personal journal with little convincing needed. And worst of all? He couldn’t let Varian know that a small part of him actually believed what he had seen. It was like the more he searched for a reason to disprove his visions and the words of the ghost girl, the more evidence he gathered. Eugene hated how he was taking notes of when the alchemist wrote in the front or back of his journal, what pages Varian allowed him to see, and when he hid the contents away from Eugene’s sight. In order to stop himself from subconsciously gathering dirt on the kid, Eugene resorted to distancing himself from Varian. He didn’t know any other way to stop his thoughts from running wild at each and every tiny thing the boy did.

Eugene’s brown eyes rarely landed on the child and when they did it was simply for a brief moment before he went back to whatever he was doing. Communication between the two was limited to basic needs and Varian couldn’t help but remember what life had been like on the first leg of their trip. Before Eugene had started to trust him again. Even without the chains around his limbs that dug into his skin,the unrelenting travel that left a sore spot at the base of his spine that wouldn’t disappear for weeks, the treatment was still devastating to him. In a way, it felt like Eugene had become like his father, someone he desperately wanted to please but who also wouldn’t even look him in the eyes. But unlike his father, whose attitude had gradually shaped and shifted over years of Varian’s antics, Eugene changed seemingly overnight with no explanation. It killed him to not know what he did, because of course it was Varian’s fault. It was always his fault At least when he knew the issue he could work to correct it or have an easier time beating himself up about it. This time. This time he had nothing.

The child hated to admit it, but the anxieties about losing his closest friend also found their way into his sleep. Visions of Eugene leaving him or finding out about his secret haunted both his waking thoughts and his sleeping dreams. He couldn’t get away from that idea that Eugene was furious with him, a soft slow-burning fury that would explode from being pent up eventually. 

This new attitude was picked up pretty quickly by everyone else in the group, even Adira and Hector who weren’t the most socially aware by any standards. The two had started off just trying to counteract Eugene’s neglect, spending more time with Varian to the point where they were constantly by his side. Even Adira would put a hand on his shoulder or allow him to lean on her like the boy had grown accustomed to doing with Eugene. However, despite their efforts, it was clear that Varian couldn’t shake the other’s man’s treatment from his thoughts. Which led to… other methods.

Varian had started sleeping much earlier than the three, and by sleeping earlier he was actually just staying up the entire night working on how to free Rapunzel since he wouldn’t have to worry about Eugene seeing. He had noticed how the man’s eyes lingered on him while he was writing in his journal and the idea of him knowing sent shivers up his spine. It was simply easier for him to work when everyone else was unconscious and prying eyes were closed. Due to his newly adopted sleeping schedule, he was often found by either Hector or Adira passed out on his desk with his journal closed. He always made sure he closed it whenever his fatigue betrayed him. The adults would simply put his journal away and put a blanket or cape over his sleeping body, all the while worrying about his sudden change. All the progress that seemed to have been made, all the confidence he seemed to have gained was gone in an instant. And they all knew the cause.

“Hey! Fish Skin.” Hector called out while Eugene was going to get water for the horses, Hector’s job. His tone was slightly more aggressive than usual, even for Hector. Varian had been found fast asleep that day by Adira, which was why the man didn’t have his cape on him.

Adira glanced up from where she was working at the man who was walking with a little too much purpose over to Eugene, normally she would have stopped this but this time, she’d let it slide. Better that Hector try to talk some sense into Eugene before she got to him. Eugene slowed down and waited for Hector to catch up. In a way he knew what was coming, he had hoped that one of the other adults would confront him about his actions. He hoped that this confrontation was what he needed to snap out of it.

“Look, I don’t know what your problem has been recently but-” Hector had expected some sort of resistance from Eugene, anything that would warrant him coming in hot and angry. Anything that would allow him to shout at Eugene for distressing Varian this way. Whether he was trying to or not. But Eugene simply stared at him and nodded and Hector saw nothing but shame behind his eyes. He was really looking forward to giving Eugene a piece of his mind too, but he couldn’t enjoy it if it was like this.

“Is everything alright?” He asked eventually but sounded more annoyed than caring. Hector knew that he should check up on Eugene but god he didn’t want to. He really didn’t want to. Eugene just shook his head softly and sighed, rubbing his temples as they reached the stream and Hector took the buckets from his hands.

“No- Well yeah but. You know?” Eugene replied with a little shrug to Hector’s confused face. He opened his mouth like he was going to try and explain before Hector started to talk.

“I really don’t.” He replied truthfully and watched Eugene groan and bury his face into his hands. Hector frowned and raised an eyebrow before starting to walk back to camp with Eugene following behind.

“It’s just- Now I’m starting to wonder if we really can bring Rapunzel back.” He replied truthfully, yeah it was the truth. Half of the truth but the truth. Hector stopped walking and struggled to come up with some sort of appropriate response. He had nothing so the man just kept walking and hoped that Eugene understood how he literally had no idea how to comfort him without making things worse. Usually, Hector wouldn’t mind making things worse, but this time it would affect Varian.

Back at camp, he and Adira exchanged two glances which involved Adira silently asking him what had happened and Hector widening his eyes, assuring her that she did not want to get involved. The two shuffled around awkwardly when Eugene arrived and stepped inside the caravan after giving the horses water. He was going to put the buckets away when he was stopped dead in his tracks by the same bright blue eyes staring at him, now with heavy dark circles around them. Ruddiger had been scurrying around the caravan but quickly darted out the open door when Eugene walked inside. Prying his gaze away from the kid, he spoke as he knelt to put the two pails in their rightful places.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping, kid?” He asked, trying his best to sound caring though the tone in question was more with annoyance. Varian winced at this, remembering how his father would always softly groan whenever Varian was awake in the kitchen at sunrise. Always stopping to ask him why he was still awake with that heavy tone of voice.

“I uh- Ruddiger woke me up.” Varian replied and rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand. He glanced around and pulled out his journal from his backpack, only to slowly put it back when Eugene’s eyes seemed to lock on it. The man’s brown eyes then turned to stare at the flower before resting just below Varian’s gaze. He was about to turn and leave before Varian’s softly and timid voice piped up.

“Di-did I do something wrong?” He asked softly, the end of his word breaking ever so slightly. He stared down at the floor and held onto his elbow. Eugene turned on his heel and stared at the child with shock, once again hit with the realization of the broken kid before him who wanted and needed nothing more than some validation from his father. Eugene wanted to tell him that he did nothing wrong, that nothing was wrong. But that wouldn’t be the truth.

“Why do you ask?” Even Eugene didn’t believe it when he tried to play dumb in order for him to try and think of a response to the question. Varian looked up at him and it was like his eyes were just simply implying that Eugene knew. He knew very well why the child had asked him that out of the blue. Why he just assumed Eugene was upset with him, everyone seemed to have a reason to hate him. And Eugene had plenty.

“Well, I mean these last few days have been...” His voice trailed off at the end as he fiddled with his gloves and bit his bottom lip. What had those last few days been like? Torture? Awful? Some of the worst in his life? Coming from the boy who spent weeks alone with his father’s crystallized body, that said a lot. “Different.”

Yeah, different but not much different from the first few days of their trip. Not much different from the time Eugene hated him with a burning passion, a hatred that he knew he deserved. Looking into his eyes, Eugene sighed and shook his head.

“I-, I’m sorry kid.” He began, wishing that there was some way he could take back everything that had happened, everything he had done the past few days. If he could take back meeting that girl in the forest. He’d willingly forget everything that happened if he could have their old dynamic back. “I’m just worried about, Rapunzel” 

That was part of the reason, but Eugene wasn’t just going to accuse the child of lying then and there when he looked so, so hurt. Not even bitter or angry like Hector and Adira were at the man’s actions. He wasn’t angry at him for suddenly shutting him out for no reason. He was just hurt and, and it seemed like Varian held more anger for himself than Eugene.

Varian nodded at his response and followed Eugene’s gaze to the flower sitting atop the shelf of the caravan. Ironic that the Sundrop was both his savior and the bringer of his downfall in more ways than one. His stomach churned as the memory of Hector and Adira declaring that they would be at the Dark Kingdom within a day’s travel. The two had been so excited, neither had been home for years, and they had told Varian all about how they’d show him around and tell him plenty of fun stories but Varian could only fake a smile. He had left the conversation quickly after that to work on his theories to which he still had nothing. Absolutely nothing. If only he was as good as fixing problems as he was at causing them. If only he could be like the Sundrop with its healing powers and light and warmth, if only.

After that encounter, it finally struck Eugene how much his actions had been hurting the boy, how much he was hurting Varian. Taking a step back, Eugene had decided then and there as the group was traveling to forget about the girl’s words completely, or at least to ignore them. He had to have faith that the plan would work. He had to and would have faith in Varian.

As much as he wanted to apologize to the child right away, to assure him that he’s come to his senses, Eugene also didn’t want to wake the sleeping boy who had decided to return to his nap after his rude awakening by Ruddiger. However, he also wasn’t too keen on the idea of sitting up front next to Adira and Hector, as he finally realized how much his attitude has affected their relationship as well. Shame welled up inside his gut as he thought of this and took in a breath. After finishing up packing, he got into the back of the caravan and sat down in one of their chairs, Ruddiger hopped in as well to sleep curled up next to Varian on his desk. Soon enough the group was traveling swiftly. This close to the Dark Kingdom meant that Adira and Hector knew all the little short cuts and secret paths to shorten their travel time significantly.

While the two Brotherhood members were outside bickering Eugene sat next to Varian and would gently put Hector’s cape back around his shoulders whenever the fabric fell off due to the movement of the caravan. Due to his exhaustion, Varian had a nightmare-less sleep for the first time in what felt like forever. He woke up naturally and rubbed the tiredness from the edges of his vision, turning his head to the side, he jumped back as he saw Eugene. The man stood then promptly sat back down, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Hey kid- I-” Eugene sighed and walked over to where a very stunned Varian was sitting, kneeling down on one knee, the man touched the child’s shoulders. “I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting. You didn’t do anything wrong and- and you didn't deserve that.”

Varian stared at the man, stunned since no one had ever really apologized to him for something that was basically microaggression. He didn’t realize that even adults were supposed to apologize for their actions even if they weren’t intentional. Nodding, he looked away before sliding off his chair and into Eugene’s arms into a fierce hug. Eugene hugged him back, confused when he felt tears wet the shoulder of his shirt though he didn’t say anything. Rather he assumed that the tears were the product of him being a horrible friend these past few weeks. What else could be causing them?

Eugene’s arms had become a place of comfort for Varian, a place he could go and just get away from everything around him. For the past few days since Eugene started to grow distant, he had realized how much he needed those arms around him. He realized how much he needed Eugene. Melting against the man, he couldn’t stop the tears that flooded out of his eyes and wetted the man’s shoulder. His apologies were cut off with Eugene gently shushing him, allowing him to cry against him. Varian gritted his teeth to stop words from spilling out of his mouth, a hasty confession about how he had no idea what he was doing and couldn’t bring Rapunzel back from the dead. He bit it back and buried his face into the man’s shoulder, trying to pretend like everything would be okay after that day.

Eventually, he did calm down and to his relief, Eugene asked for no explanation about his outburst. Instead, the man just simply ruffled his hair like he had done all those times out of affection and stood up. 

“From now on, kid. We’ll face everything together.” The man promised and took the child’s hand in his own, giving it a small squeeze as Varian smiled up at him and tried to believe his words.

The caravan stopped suddenly and Eugene let go of Varian’s hand to look out the caravan window. In front of them was a large cavern, vast and filled with the black rocks. The entire landscape seemed to be drenched in a dusty purple hue and in the distance, a large black rock castle. Adira and Hector exchanged longing glances at the place they once called home and had missed for so long. They had spent so many years wishing to return, and now, now they were.

“Anybody have any idea how we get across this thing?” Eugene asked from the window, only for Adira and Hector to laugh at him. He gawked at the two as Adira leaned back and placed her hands behind her head.

“You think we’d have nothing but a dinky gondola to get across?” Hector mocked and gestured to the rather unsafe vehicle that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. “Of course not.”

He and Adira both led their respective rides to the right. “You know, if we went across that way Edmund would have our heads,” Adira remarked to which Hector chuckled at the thought. Eugene hoped they were joking.

Since Varian was awake they stopped for a moment to allow the child to climb onto the back of Hector’s rhino, with his backpack of course, Eugene rejoined Adira at the front who didn’t seem as annoyed with him now that he had made up with the boy. Suddenly, Adira’s hand reached up to snatch a blackbird with lazy eyes out of the air, the bird squawked but didn’t protest after seeing Adira and Hector. Eugene and Varian exchanged confused looks as Hector handed the woman a piece of red and blue cloth, which she tied around the bird’s leg.

“Go tell Edmund we’re home.” She whispered to the bird and released it, helping turn it around after the poor thing started to fly in the opposite direction. He wasn’t a very bright bird. Eugene wasn’t even going to ask. He trusted them in their weirdness.

Soon the group stopped in front of what looked like a vine-covered wall, Eugene grinned softly as he remembered a similar wall of vines that concealed a tower. He’d soon see her again. Hector was the first to walk into the wall with his rhino, or rather, through the wall. Max and Fidella promptly followed as the group was led into a dark tunnel.

“V, I don’t suppose-” Hector was cut off after Varian rummaged around in his bag and produced a vial which, after shaking, emitted a bright green glow. “Not bad.” The man replied and stared at the liquid with interest. He was about to take the vial before Adira’s stare stopped him. He grumbled about how she never let him eat anything cool.

Once the hazy purple light at the end of the tunnel could be seen Varian put the vial away into his backpack after making sure that the cork was sealed. He put the bag in his lap in case Hector got any ideas. The tunnel’s exit was also obscured by vines as they stepped out into the open. The large structure of black rocks to their right. Hector waved for the group to follow him as they rounded the corner and arrived at the large entrance to the castle. Hopping off of his rhino excitedly, the man smiled as he approached the door, waiting for Adira to join him at his side. The two took in a quiet breath, just simply remembering all the time they spent together within these walls. All the time they spent wishing to return, and now they were finally home.

“Never thought I’d be back here,” Hector mumbled and smiled at her. Adira nodded and glanced over her shoulder, motioning for Eugene and Varian to get off. Eugene hurried to get the flower before joining the group with it underneath his arm. Varian looked sick to his stomach.

Together, Adira and Hector lifted their hands, marked with the symbol that connected them over time and distance, and knocked on the door of their home. The knocks echoed for the longest time before a quieter rhythmic knocking returned.

“A-are we really doing this?” Hector rolled his eyes and sighed. “He knows that no one’s come here in years, right?” The man sounded exasperated but Adira just nodded and returned the knocking with her own rhythmic beat. There was a pause before Hector knocked out his respective tune.

A slight moment before the door opened and revealed a man with long dark brown hair, a large light brown cape, and dark armor with a simple purple jeweled necklace. Adira and Hector both dropped to one knee and bowed their heads, prompting Varian and Eugene to do the same. The new man just chuckled.

“Wow, they’re still bowing? Seems like you still got it, Edmund.” He muttered to himself, making Eugene and Varian give each other questioning glances.

“Great, another Brotherhood weirdo.” Eugene mumbled so quietly that even he couldn’t make out his words. He kept his eyes lowered as Adira and Hector stood.

“It’s been too long Sister and Brother.” The man spoke and hugged both of them tightly, letting go of Adira quickly and apologizing. Hector returned the hug and snickered at Adira’s discomfort. She groaned softly but shrugged, glancing over at Varian and excitedly calling him over.

“You remember Quirin, right?”

“Of course! One of my best knights!” Edmund beamed at the mention and glanced down, recognition in his eyes as he stared into Varian’s. “Looks like Quirin finally got some action.” He chuckled, still not really talking to anyone but himself. “What’s your name, young man?”

“Oh- uh- I’m Varian! Nice to meet you… Your Majesty.” Varian replied with a nervous smile, hoping that was the right thing to say. Edmund just smiled and patted the boy firmly on the back, causing him to stumble forwards at the force and clutch on to his bag tighter.

Finally, the man’s gaze landed upon Eugene who was still looking away. Hector snapped his fingers at him and got him to look up. The brown eyes of the king and Eugene met, and memories rushed back to the man.

You could tell a lot from looking into someone’s eyes. He saw a dark past and fear in the boy’s, longing and joy in the eyes of his fellow warriors, but in the final member’s eyes, he saw something from long ago. He saw what he had lost, he saw what he had to give up. He saw who he purposely sent away and he saw her.

“You…” Eugene clutched the jar closer to his body as the man spoke. “Are my son.” The jaws of everyone except Edmund dropped. Adira and Hector glanced over at each other to make sure that they heard right, suddenly realizing that they had been calling their prince “Fish Skin” for the entire journey. Varian glanced from Eugene back to the King, seeing the resemblance as he skirted over to where Hector and Adira were standing, still awestruck.

Eugene shook his head and squinted slightly, stepping closer and looking the man up and down. He looked into his eyes. “Father?” He gasped out, the word felt strange on his tongue, he’d never said it in that context before. “You are my father.” His tone became more clear as he stepped closer once again as the realization sunk in. He had a family. He had a father. The man nodded for a second, which broke Eugene’s delusion.

He burst out laughing to everyone’s shock. How desperate was he? Ready to believe that anyone who said it, was his father? Ridiculous. “Oh of course, of course you are.” Eugene held up a pointed finger and stepped closer to the man, stopping in front of him and rubbing his chin. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before I mean-” He closed his eyes and shrugged. “The dark soulless eyes, the unbridled aggression that drives one to attack total strangers!”

Eugene turned and watched the man stiffen and walk away from him. Hector glanced over at Adira and leaned towards her, covering his mouth. “Am I allowed to talk to Edmund like that?”

“Do you still want your head on your shoulders?” Hector just shrugged in response and watched Edmund narrow his eyes before turning back to face Eugene.

“I am your father.” Eugene’s eyes softened slightly as he glanced over his shoulder towards Adira and Hector who nodded solemnly. They both remembered how the king had sent his son away all those years ago. How the king has sent everyone away. Eugene and Varian had heard this story, they had been told by Adira. But they didn’t know it like this.

Edmund motioned for the group to follow him into the castle, Eugene and Varian both gawking at the interior blue aesthetic with the black rocks as some kind of decoration. Hector turned to the group of animals outside and motioned for them to stay, putting his rhino in charge and also assigning Max as co-leader after the horse let out an angry breath.

“Now I gotta warn yah two- Co-leading isn’t easy but-”

“Hector!” Adira called over her shoulder once the group was a substantial distance away. Hector sighed and hurried off, closing the doors behind him.

“Wow, you really went all in with the whole dark theme didn’t yah?” Eugene asked, a little disturbed by the bizarre arrangement. Edmund nodded and quietly muttered to himself. “Oh he likes it.” Eugene very much did not.

Adira and Hector seemed to relax as they walked inside, like for the first time they were truly comfortable in their environment. Like how they had acted at the Great Tree. The castle was another place rich with memories for them. Happy memories for the most part. Of growing up, of training, of each other.

As they walked past the stained glass windows depicting the generations of past dark royalty, Adira and Hector both bowed their heads in respect. Eugene and Varian stared up at the glass in wonder as they were told the stories of the past. Of Eugene’s past. Eugene’s grip on the glass jar tightened. Edmund went on and stopped in a room where Adira and Hector once again nodded their heads to pay respects to the painting of the fallen queen, Eugene’s mother. Varian took Eugene’s hand as the man stared into his mother’s eyes. Varian knew what it was like to see a woman in a painting, a woman that you missed so much but would never really know. Eugene squeezed Varian’s hand gently as his gaze shifted when they left that room to a stack of wanted posters strewn around. Smiling softly, he led Varian over to them as the boy piped up and started pointing out all the ones he recognized from around Old Corona. Eugene glanced over his shoulder at the man, his father, who had been silently keeping an eye on him all these years. Who gave up everything to keep him safe, but in the process took away the only family he had. Eugene rested a hand on Varian’s shoulder at the thought.

“I can’t believe neither of us connected the dots, we really must be stup-” Hector was silenced by a swift kick to the shins from Adira. He yelped and grumbled quietly to himself as the two trailed behind the group. They moved slowly to take in everything they thought they had lost forever.

“Oh wait! I didn’t ask them why they came back. Oops” Edmund mumbled, Hector nudged Adira forwards, figuring that she would be the best to explain. Edmund stopped inside the room filled with statues of the past dark rulers and turned towards the two. “Ah yes Adira. Would you care to explain why you two have returned? Hamuel isn’t that great with longer messages.” 

The King motioned to the raven who was somehow flying backwards and upside down around the room with the fabric still attached to its foot. Adira cleared her throat and motioned for Eugene and Varian to step forwards. She began and gave a brief explanation about their mission, first mentioning how they needed to use the Moonstone to bring the princess back, something that Eugene was shocked to hear her say first. Varian winced at this and felt Hector’s hand on his shoulder, bringing him a small sense of comfort. Adira then went on and motioned to the Sundrop, something that made Edmund’s eyes widen.

“No- absolutely not.” The king growled and turned away.

“But-” Adira was cut off by his voice once again. “The Moonstone must be destroyed! It’s a danger to us all! No Sundrop will fix that.” Adira’s shoulders sagged slightly, her gaze dropped until Hector stepped forwards and towards the king.

“Your Majesty, with all due respect,” Adira sucked in a breath. That was what Hector said when he was going to say something without any respect. “What are you doing?” Yup there it was, Adira held her face in her hand as Hector continued and motioned towards the door containing the Moonstone.

“We let a rock decide our destinies for the better part of our lives. Don’t you think it’s time we decided for ourselves?” Hector asked, catching the king off guard as his expression shifted towards his son. “I thought my destiny would be to die hiding the Moonstone. But then Adira convinced me that there was another path. A better path.”

Edmund’s eyes met Hector’s and he saw true sincerity in his green gaze. Something not often seen from Hector. Even Adira, who was pretty used to his antics, looked shocked.

“Plus if it doesn’t work and we all die- well it was gonna happen eventually,” Hector replied with a shrug and turned, walking back over to the group. He was back. Adira watched him walk over and shook her head.

“Nice job.” She replied sarcastically though Hector didn’t seem to sense the tone in her voice. Despite his unconventional methods, the King did seem to pause for a second to consider his words, maybe minus the last couple. It looked like he was about to reject them once again before Eugene spoke.

“Dad-” The words felt strange on his tongue as he continued. “You looked at that painting of mom like she was your whole world. You still miss her, don’t you?”

The king nodded out of surprise, watching as Eugene held up the jar.

“This- Rapunzel is my whole world. She’s my dream and- and I have a chance to bring her back. Please.” Eugene’s brown eyes bore into his father's, pleading with him silently. Eventually, the king, glancing over at Adira and Hector, nodded and motioned for Eugene to walk towards the room. Varian looked up from where he was sitting with the wanted posters, pulling out his journal. He had something, a vague idea of something that could work. Maybe that would be enough. He’d have to talk his way out of this.

Eugene smiled gratefully at his father and motioned for Varian to follow. Edmund stepped out of the room to give them space. Varian gulped and walked towards Eugene with his journal in his hand. Approaching the room, Adira and Hector pulled the doors open for them and allowed them inside. The Sundrop’s glow amplified as they walked inside the room, the black rocks around them glowing like they had around the princess. In the middle of the room, a complicated spherical cage with the elusive Moonstone inside sat ominously. 

“Go on.” Adira’s reassuring voice called from behind them. Varian nervously flipped through his journal at his scattered thoughts as Eugene stepped forwards, a bright blue path forming from the rocks as they created a bridge towards the Moonstone. Holding out his hand, he reached for Varian who took it shakily and the two walked across the bridge to the center. For Eugene this was the final leg, a walk of hope. For Varian, his knees shook and knocked together, hands barely held onto the journal, this was a death march.

“Stay here, kid.” Eugene replied as they got about three-fourths of the way across the bridge, the blue glow of the Moonstone illuminating their faces as all the rocks around them seemed to come alive. He didn’t want Varian to get hurt from the Moonstone, even from there he could feel the energy in the room shifting as the powerful waves of the opal radiated through the area. Kneeling down, he brought Varian into a tight hug.

“I’m so proud of you, kid.” He mumbled and felt Varian relax and hug him tighter. Varian squeezed his eyes shut, the possibility that this would be his last hug from Eugene fresh in his mind.

“Eugene I-” Varian sucked in a breath and bit his lip. “Thank you, for being the dad I never had.” Eugene’s eyes widened slightly as tears of pride started to well up. He wiped them away and pulled away from Varian when he felt the child’s grip loosen, the jar in hand.

Varian nodded and struggled to get his bearings. Eugene waited for his instructions as to what to do next. Stuttering and failing to collect his thoughts, Varian felt heat rush to his face. What was he doing, he was, he was lying. He was pretending. He was going to kill the princess again with his stupidity. How could he let this happen? How could- how could he let this happen? Without realizing he hugged the journal close and squeezed his eyes shut, sucking in quick breaths in panic.

Eugene glanced back at him and his face fell, quickly turning back around he glanced towards Adira and Hector at the other end of the bridge. The Moonstone’s effects must have affected Varian more. Although Eugene wanted him there, he wanted Varian to be there so that he could find relief as well. Eugene thought that Varian would be able to forgive himself if he gave Eugene the instructions but it must have been too much for the boy.

“It’s okay, kid. Go back to Adira and Hector, I’ll take it from here.” He was certain that he would be able to follow the child's instructions. Everything Varian wrote was clear and easy to follow. He took the journal from the suffocating child as Adira and Hector made their way over. Varian choked out a soft noise as Hector reached over to pull him back. Unable to say anything, unable to do anything. The boy watched in horror as Eugene tucked the jar under one arm and flipped the journal open to the back page.

There was a pause, a moment where the world slowed down. Varian watched in horror as everything around him crumpled, Hector’s and Adira’s guiding voices muffled as he watched Eugene’s gloved hands land on the pages. The pages filled with nothing. Eugene’s face dropped as he stared at the familiar hashmarks and crosses, at the notes that he had read long ago in the forest. He stared at the pages he had seen in his vision. Turning, he narrowed his eyes at Varian as his jaw hardened.

“So is this it?!” His voice echoed through the room as he held the journal up. Adira and Hector looked down at the boy in confusion.

“Varian, what is he talking about?” Adira asked as she put a hand on his other shoulder. Varian just shook his head and held his face in his hands.

“This was your trick? Your revenge?” Eugene’s voice had a cold laugh to it as he threw the journal to the floor. Varian covered his mouth as tears spilled out of his eyes. This was it.

“N-no it’s not like th-” 

“Oh, I know what it’s like! Why don’t you tell your uncle and aunt how you used me to stay out of prison!” Eugene shouted and motioned towards Adira and Hector who both narrowed their eyes at him.

“V, what’s he going on about?” Hector asked and glanced down at the shaking boy.

“I- I- I don't-” Varian sucked in a breath, struggling to find the words. 

“Say it! Tell them how you lied to us! How you don’t know how to bring her back!” Eugene shouted and pointed his finger at the child, his face twisted in a rage that Varian only remembered seeing back at his home in Old Corona. “Say it!”

“I- I don’t know, okay!” He shouted suddenly and pushed both Adira and Hector away with his arms. “I lied! It- It wasn’t because I wanted to stay out of jail! It was because- because.” Varian sniffed and looked away. “I just thought I could come up with something on the way. I thought I could help.”

He started to step towards Eugene but the animosity in the man’s eyes caused him to stop.

“Help?” Eugene growled and held the flower’s jar in both his hands. ”Do you think I want your help?” He snapped and watched Varian wince. Good, he wanted him to feel scared, to be terrified. “This is what happens when you try to help!”

Without thinking Eugene threw the jar at the boy, he wanted to put a dent in his head, for the jar to explode into a million sharp pieces and lodge themselves into the boy. However, Adira’s steady hand caught the flying projectile before it could make contact. Her other arm was held out in front of Varian. Hector stood beside her, keeping a sobbing boy back.

“There’s no way to bring her back, is there Varian?!” Eugene’s voice stung the child as he clung onto his uncle’s arm.

“I don- I don’t know! I’m sorry I don’t know!” Varian broke down and shook his head. He was a failure, no matter how hard he worked he would never make things right. “I tried but I- I couldn’t figure it out.”

“Fish Skin stop! Let’s talk ab-”

“No! I’m done talking! You don’t care about Rapunzel!” He motioned to the rest of the group. “None of you care about Rapunzel. You just care about yourselves and what you want!” 

Adira and Hector, who just wanted to join the Sundrop and the Moonstone, not caring if either would get destroyed in the process. Varian, Varian who just wanted to make him hurt as some sort of sick revenge. None of them cared about Rapunzel. None of them cared about him.

“You take the one person that I love, and- and then” Eugene cried out and turned around so that his back was facing them. “You use me and trick me into thinking she could be brought back?” His hand turned into a fist, teeth gritted as a single tear fell from his eye and down his cheek. “Well, I’m not going to be used anymore.”

Without thinking, Eugene raced forwards with Adira and Hector screaming at him to stop, He didn’t care. Nothing in the world mattered without Rapunzel. Either he would leave this world to be with her, or he would get revenge on everyone who wronged him. On the boy who gave him this false hope. There was nothing left for him anymore, and he was going to make sure there was nothing left for Varain either.

In one determined motion, his hand slipped through the holes in the cage and wrapped around the Moonstone. He cried out in pain as he used his other hand to help him grab it. Varian’s voice rang out.

“Eugene stop! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“So?” Eugene snapped back and brought the stone closer to his chest. “Why does it matter?” He growled and with a flash of light pressed the stone to his body, above his heart. Hector wrapped his arms around Varian as a blast sent them flying backward. The man’s body cushioning Varian’s fall. Adira recovered the quickest, shoving the jar with the Sundrop to Hector and got to her feet, charging towards the light as Varian struggled to get out of Hector’s grip.

Eugene’s sinister laughter filled the air. His hair a bright blue, his armor made from the same black rocks that had taken Rapunzel away. The group has shown him something, showed him how no one cared. No one in the world cared that their light had died, that his light had died. They used his sorrow, they used his grief. They used him. But now, now he had the power to show them all what life would be like in darkness. What his life was now that Rapunzel was gone forever. He had accepted it now, she was gone and no one cared. Well, he’d make them all care, they would all regret overlooking the light. Why should there be any happiness left in the world when she was gone? Varian crossed a line by giving him false hope, and now he’d take all of his. 

He looked up, his eyes now bright blue as he glanced down at his darker blue gloves. The moonstone sat just above his heart, the darker blue on his armor made it look like cracks, like his armor was damaged just like his heart.

“I know now. You have to be careful who you trust” Eugene growled and looked up as Adira lept towards him, bringing her sword down. He tried to use two large rocks to block her advances, but they were quickly cut by her blade. Eugene crossed his arms to block the attack, straining against Adira’s power.

“Release the Moonstone, Fish Skin. You don’t know what you’re dealing with.” Adira said through gritted teeth.

“Neither. Do. You!” Eugene retorted and broke her hold, sending a sharp blast of power out and knocking Adira backward violently. He stepped forwards and picked up her sword, marveling for a moment before attaching it to his back with some of the rocks.

“Adira!” Hector and Varian cried out at the same time, running over to help the woman who was sent crashing into the wall, head first. She fell, slid down the black surface, and landed with a soft thud. Varian waited for her to get up, to fight back, to make a sarcastic comment. Something. Anything, but she never did. No. No, she was just stunned. Just stunned from the impact. She was fine. She had to be fine. Her eyes closed and her head lolling to one side from the impact of the throw. Varian stayed by her side as Hector growled and turned, his sword releasing as he handed the Sundrop over to Varian. Anger filled his yellow-green eyes as he looked upon the state of his friend, his sister. He was about to charge towards the man, to give his life for the cause just as she had. Then Varian’s tight grip on his arm pulled him back to reality.

Eugene narrowed his eyes at the two knelt down beside the woman. One traitor down, one person who didn’t care about anyone but herself was gone. But to kill the others would be too easy. It was too easy for them to not have to wallow in her death. He’d let them grieve. Let them feel the same pain and agony he had been through. It’s what they deserved.

Breaking into a run, he bolted out the door, sending a large black rock at his father who was sitting nearby and knocking him back.

“Thanks for nothing, Dad.” He growled and stopped to take in the room. Everything he could have had, and everything he did have was taken from him. Well now it was his turn. With one final look around and over his shoulder at the two members of his so-called group kneeling over the fallen warrior, Eugene turned and sprinted away just as a blood-curdling scream broke the silence.

Back in the room with the Moonstone, Hector’s screams of agony filled the air as he held Adira’s limp hand tightly in his two. He felt the coldness seep in, watching as her chest stopped it’s steady rise and fall.

“No! Sister, it can’t end like this!” He sobbed, letting out another pained scream. He didn’t care that his throat was raw, didn’t care that it felt like his voice would give out. He didn’t care. “We were finally together again! We- we rewrote our destinies! Just like you wanted!” He held the sides of his head in his hands. “Please don’t leave me again! Please! Don’t leave me!”

Varian put a hand on the man’s shoulder, setting the jar with the flower aside as he pulled his uncle close. He knew what it was like to lose someone, to lose someone you thought you were finally breaking through to, finally repairing your relationship with. Hector wiped his tears on his nephew’s shirt, not usually the one for such emotion but this time. This time was different.

“I can’t imagine my destiny without her.” Hector mumbled into Varian’s shoulder. The boy just pulled him closer and let him cry. He did his best to make Hector feel, feel like he wasn't alone in his grief and agony. He did his best to make Hector feel like he had something to hold on to, someone to hold on to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN// Yeah I did that. Come yell at me in the comments lmao


	8. My Rightful Dues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian, Eugene, and Hector all face the aftermath of their journey and the consequences to follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // Sorry this is so late

Hector screamed and sobbed until he couldn’t physically anymore. His throat was raw and sore, eyes red and swollen as Varian did his best to wipe the tears from his own eyes while holding his uncle. Varian bit back a sob, having now lost the woman he was just starting to get to know. A part of his family that he was just starting to understand. But he held his grief back, he held it back for Hector. Who had just lost Adira for the second time. Hector couldn’t, he couldn’t believe it. After grieving for twenty-five years about the loss of his friend, the loss of her in his life, she was gone a second time. Gone for good. There would be no more hope, no more of that little voice in his head that was able to convince himself that she would return. She was gone, and she died protecting them. Hector always thought that he’d be the one to die at the hands of the Moonstone. That he’d be the one to meet an untimely demise. Destiny was a funny thing.

“It should have been me, V.” Hector choked out, surprised to feel Varian pull away. The boy’s eyes were wide, he remembered. He remembered saying that same thing to his father in the amber. He remembered the pit in his heart that caused him to think this way, to think so lowly of himself.

“D-Don’t say that!” He cried out only for Hector to shake his head.

“Am I wrong?” Hector roared and hit his fist against the ground. ”She- she was the one who could take care of you! She would know what to do! I-” He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. “I was prepared to die! I should have died!”

Hector felt sick to his stomach with guilt. Guilt because he wasn’t the one to throw himself at Eugene, guilt that he wasn’t by her side in the end, guilt that he wasn’t fast enough. He was too slow, he failed. He failed her and in a way, he failed Varian who needed Adira in his life. He failed.

Hector spent his life in the Great Tree, dedicating his life to driving everyone away. Away from the Dark Kingdom and the Moonstone so that they would never have to waste their lives to it. He had, in a way, sacrificed his life by staying behind so that Adira and Quirin could be free. He drove them away from the Dark Kingdom, making sure they wouldn’t want to return with his animosity. Threatened to end them if they returned so that they would be freed. Maybe a little part of him hoped she’d give up the quest for the Sundrop. Give up and forget about the Brotherhood, about him, so that she could finally be free from the Moonstone’s reign and find peace. He already lost everything to the Moonstone, his youth, his family, everything. He had nothing left to hold onto. It should have been him.

Varian stared at his grieving uncle with despair, wiping his own tears from his eyes. What could he do? What could he do to help fix this? To-to help heal him? Heal? The boy’s eyes drifted over to the golden glow of the Sundrop next to them. The embodiment of life. He picked it up and handed it to Hector. Staring down at the jar in his hands, Hector lifted his head, eyes wide as Varian scrambled over Adira’s fallen body towards his journal. Towards the journal that ruined everything. No, no it wasn’t the book’s fault. It was his.

Eugene’s gripe was with him, Eugene was mad at him and he was in the right but- but the man had decided to hurt everyone around Varian first. The alchemist bit back a regretful sob as he remembered coming to the same conclusion, and now Adira had paid the price. His eyes drifted over to her limp body, then at Hector who was holding his head in his hands, this was all because of him. Eugene wouldn’t stop until he hurt everyone Varian loved, that was how he’d exact his revenge. Everyone was in danger because of him.

He pushed the thought away, there was no time to think about that. He had one more chance. One more chance to make something right. Even if it was slim and unproven, it was worth a shot. Hurrying over, he knelt beside Hector with the book open to the Healing Incantation. Hector nodded in understanding, shifting away to allow Varian space.

“Go on, V.” Hector said, his voice raspy. Varian just shook his head and handed the book to him.

“No, you have to.” Varian ignored Hector’s protests. “When Eugene was killed by Gothel, Rapunzel brought him back even without her hair. I think- I think the Sundrop’s power, at least the Healing Incantation, is derived from emotion. So-” He nodded towards Hector. 

“You knew her better than me. I- I miss her too of course but-” But he was sure this was the best thing to do. Hector was their best chance, and he wasn’t going to try and be the hero if he wasn’t sure it was the best way. He wasn’t going to sacrifice Adira’s life for his own selfish means. Maybe he did want to prove himself, to tell himself he could be the bringer of life and hope. But he wasn’t.

Taking the journal, Hector nodded and read over the spell before looking up and scooting closer to Adira. Taking a breath, he put the flower between them and opened the lid of the jar.

“Fl-flower gleam and glow, let your power shine” 

Hector started, his voice shaky like he hadn’t sung in a long long time, which was the case. The flower in the jar started to glow and stand just a little taller. The man’s eyes widened and his voice gained strength.

“Ma-make the clock reverse”

A golden light emitted from both the flower and Adira’s chest. Hector’s voice broke slightly as he spoke, shaking his head and wiping away a tear.

“Bring back what on-once was mine”

The glow of the flower strengthened. Varian, who had been holding one of Adira’s hands, the left untattooed one while Hector held the other, gasped softly as he felt warmth return to her fingers. Varian looked up at his uncle who was biting back a sob, the boy nodded encouragingly.

“Heal what has been hurt, cha-change the Fate’s design”

Hector’s grip on Adira’s fingers tightened. His gaze fixated on the Brotherhood marking, their connection through everything they had been through. Together and apart.

“Save what has been lost”

The glow around Adira seemed to swirl around her head and chest, traveling down her body like the golden light was breathing life back into her. Her mouth opened ever so slightly. Varian crossed his fingers, squeezing her hand like he was attempting to squeeze some of his own life force into her. He would if he could.

“Bring back what once was mine.”

Hector closed his eyes, adding a tiny ‘please’ to the end as he pressed his head against Adira’s fingers. He closed his eyes but could see the light disappearing from behind his closed eyelids. Varian stared at the flower, then at Adira. His heart sank. He was too late. He- he failed again. He failed them.

Sniffing, Hector gave her limp hand a final squeeze before he started to let go, only for the hand to tighten around his grip, and Varian’s too. The two looked up in astonishment as Adira opened her eyes and squinted at them both.

“Varian? H-Hector?” The woman whispered, her previously strong and commanding voice weak and whispery. Hector grinned and let out a relieved laugh, letting go of her hand and practically throwing himself on top of her, hugging the woman tightly. He hadn’t felt this, this happy since she had shown up in his territory those weeks ago. She groaned softly and pushed herself up onto one arm. Varian joined the hug after both Adira and Hector reached out for him. The boy smiled and wiped away tears of joy. She was okay, she was alive and, and everything felt just a little bit better. Holding each other tightly, for once Adira didn’t mind the touch.

“Guess I can read,” Hector mumbled with a soft chuckle and pulled away from the long hug. Varian pulled away too in order to give Adira some space to recover from literally dying due to head trauma. Adira scoffed at the man and punched his shoulder.

“I didn’t know you cared so much, Hector.” She teased, pointing out the man’s tear-stained face. He grumbled to himself and gave her a shove.

“It’s good to have you back.” Hector’s tone was dripping with sarcasm, but both Adira and he knew that his words were truthful in every way.

Later on, after discovering an okay but knocked out King Edmund, Varian and Hector worked to help the two lay down in the center room. Adira had insisted that she was fine but Varian knew. Varian knew what it was like to insist to be okay and he wouldn’t let his aunt suffer the same consequences he did. With the help of his rhino, Hector and Varian were able to move the two to a more comfortable location. King Edmund in his quarters, and Adira to the Brotherhood’s old room. Hector had taken Adira’s hair down, something that he was quite good at since the two used to style their hair together. Her golden rings were placed beside her on the nightstand.

Varian had taken a moment to look around at the three simple beds, the rug in the center of the room with the Brotherhood symbol, banners having the same markings and cabinets and trunks. Anything else in the room was taken when they had left all that time ago. Adira’s bed was the one on the far right. Hector had insisted the room looked better twenty-five years ago and Adira had agreed.

“I still don’t understand why I’m still here Varian! We should be going after the Moonstone.” Adira spoke out loud as Varian sat next to her, writing in his journal. She wanted to ask about what happened, about why he lied, but she was sure that she had figured it out. The kid had lied out of fear, and fear made everyone do crazy things. He had become so trapped in his lie that he didn’t know how to break free until he was ripped from it. She wouldn’t pry.

“Because Aunt Adira! You’re injured and you need to rest.” He insisted and pet Ruddiger, who was sitting in Hector’s empty chair next to him. The man had gotten up to go check on the king. Varian glanced at his backpack with the Sundrop inside. Their savior. Adira, just huffed and crossed her arms.

“I’ve rested enough!” She replied as Hector walked into the room with a glass of water for her. Adira reached out for it and rolled her eyes when Hector didn’t let go and helped her sit up to drink. “You two don’t need to baby me! I’m fine.”

“You just died, Sister. I’ll decide when you’re fine!” Hector set the glass down on the bedside table after Adira finished drinking and didn’t sit down since he didn’t want to disturb Ruddiger. The man turned to Varian.

“Thank you, V.” 

“For what?” Varian asked and tilted his head to the side? If it weren’t for him this entire thing wouldn’t have happened. And even after that, he didn’t do anything. He just used the Sundrop as it was intended, he didn’t even use it.

“You’re kidding right?” Hector sighed and shook his head, kneeling down on one knee and looking Varian in the eyes. His yellow-green eyes were filled with gratitude as he stared into Varian’s blue ones. “Without you- Well I don’t want to think about that.”

Varian shook his head. “But I didn’t do anything. I just told you how to do it. And even- and even then if it weren’t for me Adira wouldn’t have gotten h-” Hector cut him off though Adira looked like she was going to do the same. The two glanced at each other with sadness, they couldn’t believe how little credit the kid gave himself.

“Varian,” Hector started and cleared his throat. “You can’t keep dwelling on your mistakes.” 

He knew this. He knew this all too well. If Hector had focused on the past, focused on what he did wrong then he wouldn’t have been able to have this. He wouldn’t have Adira and Varian again, by his side. He would still be alone and too angry at himself to allow him to heal. He wouldn’t have let himself be happy because he’d still feel like he didn’t deserve to be happy. That someone who made mistakes like his didn’t deserve anything. The man knew Variain felt the same way he had all those years ago.

“You have to acknowledge what you did right.” Adira finished for him, to which Hector smiled. She lifted her head from the pillow to look at Varian, her long white hair all around her. Varian noticed how her and Hector’s face paint was still intact. Amazing, he’d have to ask about that later. Varian stared at the two, not looking convinced.

“But what did I do?” The boy asked with a shake of his head. He stared at his journal, at the pages that were filled with his jumped thoughts. He had failed Eugene and Adira got hurt in the process.

“Varian, without you Adira would be dead on the floor right now because she hit her head a little too hard,” Hector replied a little too bluntly.

“I’m right here.” Adira punched Hector’s shoulder though she agreed with the sentiment. “You saved my life, Varian.”

The kid shook his head again and tossed the journal aside. “You wouldn’t have needed saving if I knew what to do beforehand.” He mumbled and looked up as Adira leaned over and rested a hand on his knee.

“That’s in the past now. But from now on,” She exchanged a look at Hector, “from now on if you don’t know the answers you can tell us. We’ll support you.” Adira bit her lip and hoped that that was the right thing to say, holding her breath.

“Wow did the head trauma suddenly make you better at emotions?” Hector remarked sarcastically, he couldn’t help it. Adira knocked him on the back of the head. 

“Let’s find out.”

A soft smile formed on Varian’s face at those words, the ones before the two started fighting, he looked up at his family and nodded, reaching out and hugging Hector while squeezing Adira’s hand. “Do-does that mean you’re coming back to Corona with me?”

He asked softly, surprised when they nodded after he pulled away since he thought that they would be staying at the castle. At the home they had spent so long missing. Hector and Adira both nodded at the same time.

“Of course.” The two had wanted to return to the Dark Kingdom because that was where their family used to be. But, after everything, their family lived in Old Corona now. And they would be there for him.

“If it makes you feel better V.” Hector started and was given a warning look by Adira. He brushed her off, taking a breath. The man would try this time, he would really truly try. “If you hadn’t gone on that adventure with Eugene, we would have never gotten to meet our amazing nephew.”

Varian’s face lit up slightly as he looked between the two. “You guys are pretty amazing too. Thank you, that uh- that actually made me feel better.”

“Maybe head trauma does make you better at emotions.” Hector and Adira both mumbled at the same time. The three chuckled together and sought joy in each other’s company. Somehow, after all, that happened, Varian was happy and he finally had a real family. Even someone like him, who he thought to be unlovable. Someone like him had a family who loved him. He grinned to himself at the thought and somehow truly believed that everything would be alright as long as he had Adira and Hector by his side.

Stumbling through the dark forests that surrounded the kingdom of the black rocks, the landscape there changed due to long exposure to the Moonstone’s power, Eugene looked around to make sure that he was alone. Turning towards one of the many black rocks that jutted out of the ground, he approached the smooth surface and observed himself in the reflection. His hair had turned a bright blue like it was flowing with the power of the moon. He knew another person, a girl who had her hair changed due to the sun. But she was gone. She was gone and no one seemed to care besides him. He gritted his teeth and turned away from his reflection, eyes narrowed as he no longer saw the land in front of him. His vision was clouded with the memory of Varian’s face, twisted with despair over the fallen warrior’s body. Seeing his pain, his agony, how the child had cried out, and understood the consequences of his actions, that felt good. He’d make them all understand, they would all understand how he felt when Rapunzel was ripped away from him. And Varian, Varian would be his last victim. He would make the alchemist truly suffer for his actions. He’d make it clear that it was all Varian’s fault. It was all Varian’s fault.

His hand, donning dark blue gloves, rested on the Moonstone above his aching heart. His fingers brushing over the cold surface that was strangely hot at the same time, like it was radiating a strong and ancient power. He’d use that power, he’d use that power to make them all pay. This was his destiny, the one he’d choose. Rapunzel wouldn’t have wanted this, but she was gone because of Varian. Why should he show the boy mercy when he took the one person he cared about most? Not just took, but then lied and filled the man with false hope. He made her death worse, he made everything worse.

Gritting his teeth, Eugene stepped back with one foot and lifted his right hand, straining at the rocks in front of him as he attempted to produce more. He stared at himself in the reflection, black armor with what looked like dark blue cracks wrapping around in a spiral-like fashion stemming from his heart where the Moonstone rested. He groaned in frustration when no rocks appeared from the ground. 

“Just-” He strained and squinted, focusing harder. “Focus!” His words were squeezed through gritted teeth as his other hand balled into a fist of frustration. Though it was to no avail as he screamed in anguish and stumbled backward, falling to his knees and hugging his hands close. Why couldn’t he control them? What was he doing wrong? This was his one chance, his one chance for revenge and he was blowing it. He didn’t care if the strain made his body feel like it was on fire and going to explode, didn’t care what kind of suffering he had to endure as long as the rocks obeyed him. He had already suffered more than anything the Moonstone could do to him.

“I-I can’t!” He held his head in his hands and hit the ground with one fist, trying to release his pent up emotions. He was pulled from his own melancholy by that familiar calming voice. Looking up, his eyes widened slightly. 

“Eugene” The voice cried out, breathy and light like he had heard all that time ago into the forest. In the forest when Varian’s true nature was revealed to him. He should have listened, should have listened to the girl. If he had then, then maybe things would be different. She was the only one on the journey who had helped him, who had truly helped him, and he just ignored her. He could have stopped his own suffering with her help. However, she was back now, she was back and Eugene finally had an ally he could rely on. Or did he?

Could he really trust her? Could he really believe what she said? The girl had backed up her words with actions, as opposed to Varian who was all talk. All desperate talk that amounted to nothing. Nothing. Eugene growled softly, he would make Varian truly have nothing. He’d make him feel like nothing again. To think, he had spent so long trying to help him, to try and make him feel whole when the boy was just- just nothing more than a lowly villain only looking out for his well being. He broke his promise and he’d pay the ultimate price, but not before everyone he loved paid it first.

Eugene would lie low, he would wait. He would allow Varian to be the catalyst in his own destruction. He knew the anxiety of waiting for Eugene to show up would affect the child more than anything Eugene could do. Varian was always his own worst enemy. With the kid and Hector grieving over Adira’s death, well they’d bring themselves lower with their own emotions, their own minds. Eugene chuckled at the thought, Hector may be a warrior who could fight off deadly foes, but even he was powerless against the forces inside his own head. Against himself.

He would wait. He would get stronger. And then, when Varian had already crumpled and done most of the work for him, he’d strike and strip away whatever the child had left. He’d make it clear their suffering was all Varian’s fault. And then he would leave again, leave Varian to his own devices for a while. Leave Varian with no one just like he had been the night of the snowstorm. He’d make him suffer ten times the amount of pain and agony he had to endure back then. He’d make him suffer the same amount Eugene had and then some. Traitors get what’s coming to them.

However, in order to do that, in order to take away whatever light Varian had left in his life, to show the world what happens when they neglect Rapunzel, he’d have to get his power back. The Moonstone must have only reacted that way before because of the surge of power he received from taking it initially. It was true that in those few moments he felt the celestial energy coursing through his veins, he had felt something. It felt painful and horrible and sickening, all the destruction that the Moonstone radiated, but in a way, it felt good. Because it gave him the ability to make others suffer the way he had, the way he was suffering. Now it was gone, after that initial power high, it was gone.

He looked up towards the source of the voice, wanting to see that girl again. Maybe she’d know what to do. Rising back to his feet, Eugene turned towards another patch of the rocks and raised his hand. Maybe he could just make them grow taller instead of creating new ones. He stepped forwards towards them and groaned, straining everything in his body to try and produce more, to try and channel the power. Crying out in agony from the burning sensation, he dropped to his knees with a sigh, feeling like all the energy had drained from his body.

“You’re doing it wrong,” The voice called out, to which Eugene looked up angrily and growled.

“You.” Eugene glanced to his side towards where he thought the voice was coming from. “What are you doing here?” Who was she? Was she a friend like she had said before? Eugene scoffed at the thought, he could use some new friends, a friend who could actually help him.

From the shadows, the ghost girl from before floated out with concerned eyes. Like she actually cared. Eugene needed someone to care at that moment. 

“I’m here to help you learn to master the Moonstone’s power.” The girl replied, her voice clear but also echoey at the end like it wasn’t of this realm. She floated over to him and reached out, not quite touching the stone as Eugene stared at her. “It responds to hatred and anger, if you truly want to wield the Moonstone you mustn’t be afraid to tap into the depths of your deepest rage.”

Her voice ended on a soft growl as Eugene’s eyes widened, the girl lifted his hand in her two. His expression fell as he stared at his own hand, now encased in armor. “Remember what he put you through”

Eugene lifted his hand closer to his face and gritted his teeth. He knew, he could remember fresh in his mind everything that Varian had done. All the times Varian let him believe there was hope, all that time Varian spent building him up just to kick the floor out from underneath him and allow him to fall. He felt it, the bubbling festering hatred growing inside him and hardening his heart. It built walls around his emotions and kept them inside, kept them safe. His heart would belong to no one else anymore, his love and hope and faith and joy died with her. They all died with her for good.

“And use that fury, Eugene.” The girl floated behind him and narrowed her eyes, her mouth widening into a sinister smile as she drifted around him and stood just behind.

His eyes narrowed as the hand curled into a tight fist. Glaring daggers into the hand, he remembered. He remembered it all. How from the start in his life he was doomed to fail due to his father, how he had no one but himself. And then, then the first time someone saw something more in him, the first time anyone bothered to care about him and to really see something other than a thief, well she was taken from him. She was taken and not just that, he was made to believe that she could be saved, the more hope that was given, the harder they fall. And he fell hard. Now, now he would show them all. He’d show them all.

The earth around him started to shake as he felt an excruciating pain course through his veins. Unable to bear the feeling as it felt like each muscle fiber in his body was being torn to pieces, he let out a scream as a line of black rocks exploded from the earth in front of him. Briefly glowing before losing their light and simply existing in their jet black state. Eugene let out a heavy pant and nearly collapsed due to the pain that clouded his vision. The girl stood over him with her arms clasped behind her back.

“Very good Eugene, though you will have to practice more if you’ll ever master the power.” She walked around his hand with her arms clasped behind her back. Eugene glared at her before his eyes widened and he sat up, remembering how the traitor, Varian, had so excitedly told him about the Moon Incantation. How Eugene had foolishly told Varian that he was proud of his discovery. Stupid.

“What about the Moon Incantation?” Eugene asked while he got to his knees and watched as the girl shrugged him off like she knew something more than him. “He said that it would allow anyone who wields the Moonstone to have complete control.”

“Oh Eugene, Haven’t’ you learned not to trust Varian yet?” She replied in an almost pitiful tone. She shook her head and reached out her hand to touch the black rocks, only for her body to go right through it. “The boy failed to mention, or maybe he didn’t know, that the Moon Incantation also causes the user incredible pain.”

Of course, that kid didn’t know. That stupid kid didn’t know or do anything that was actually important, Eugene growled and shook his head.

“You must build up your endurance to this kind of power, Eugene.” The ghost turned and took his hands in her own, her wide eyes staring into his narrowed ones. “If you don’t, well you saw what happened to Rapunzel.”

At the mention of her name, Eugene felt another intense rush of hatred, followed by power and pain stronger than before. He cried out as two larger rocks jutted out from behind him, nearly collapsing once again but was determined to catch himself with his hand. His vision blurred from pain but he didn’t care. If this is what it took, what he had to go through, then he would do it.

“Good, Eugene, good.” She floated around him and rested on one of the black rocks he had just made, crossing her legs in satisfaction. “The stronger the hatred the stronger the pain you’ll have to endure. But also,” She rested a hand on the black rocks, the shiny surface consuming her not solid limb. “The stronger your power will become.”

Eugene smiled at that thought and tried to rub the pain induced hallucinations from his eyes. He didn’t care if he destroyed himself in the process, as long as he brought that lying alchemist down alongside him. Nodding, he shakily stood up and rested against the rocks of his own creation.

“Then let’s get to work.” He mumbled and tried to rid himself of that sickly feeling after your body has endured too much stress. To Eugene, the pain started to feel good, to feel welcomed. Because feeling that pain meant that he was closer and closer to having his revenge. The more physical pain he felt, the closer he’d be. The girl sitting on top of the rocks smiled at Eugene, delighted that this one was so willing to harm himself, so deliciously willing to hurt for the cause. He’d be the easiest to break down, the alchemist had already broken his spirit and his heart. There wasn’t much left for her to do.

But she had to hold back, she had to pretend. Pretend that she was on his side for long enough to gain his trust. It would be easy, he was desperate. So desperate for someone to hold onto that he’d jump at any chance he got, anyone who he could rely on. Her eyes narrowed slightly before she cleared her throat and floated down, taking his hand and trying to get him to sit.

“You need to rest first Eugene, get your strength back.” She put a hand on his chest as the man sat in the grass. “It must be exhausting, to feel all that hatred all the time.” 

Eugene nodded and narrowed his eyes, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them as the girl spoke once again. “But now, now you can use that hatred. Use it to exact your revenge.” She grinned at him and her tiny hand balled into a fist.

Eugene’s eyes narrowed in determination as Hector’s screams of anguish filled his ears. The noise made him smile as he thought about the despair he had caused. Staring into the forest in front of them, he nodded. He would rest, he would train, and when Varian needed his family the most, he’d strike and take it.

“They’re going to pay.” He growled out softly, to which his new and only friend nodded. “They will pay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // Again I'm sorry I just dont really feel motivated sometimes


	9. When I Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adira, Hector and Varian return to Corona, making the proper amends to Varian's past. Eugene trains in the woods alone where a certain ghost proves to be more and more helpful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An// So I'm sorry for the late updates. I write chapters in advance and I'm just not that- well this story just isn't going well for me. I've finished and will be posting the full thing but hm- not a fan  
> Also, don't let me write villains when I'm angry because I'm not sure how to redeem Eugene now skfhdsk

Adira grunted softly as she lifted up two crates of supplies to put into the caravan, walking out the doors she grumbled with additional annoyance as she felt a sudden additional weight drop onto them. Looking up, she could just see the edges of a black cape hanging off the sides.

“Hector, this would be a lot easier if you helped out.” She said through strained teeth, actually a little glad that the man had gone back to his usual antics after a week of insistently caring for her.

“Aw, but then it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.” The man called down and laid across the crate, stretching on his back as he grinned to himself. He could picture Adira rolling her eyes at him as she set the crate into the back of the caravan and hit the side of the box. It was nice to have her back and on her feet again.

Over the past few days, well excluding the first few which consisted of Adira fighting to get up while Hector and Varian tried and failed to get her to rest, it almost felt like how things used to be. They were back in the Dark Kingdom, home, and with each other once again. For once, for once since the day they split, everything felt closer to being truly right again. But that wasn’t the case. The castle’s walls were empty and echoed too much for either of their tastes, the building was lonely and even Edmund was different from how he was all that time ago. They didn’t blame him, they all changed. But most dauntingly, something was missing, someone. There was no one to tell Hector and Adira off for snagging some bread for Ruddiger from the kitchen, no one to tiredly smile at them when hearing about their day, no one to nag them about taking care of their weapons. While Varian filled that space to some extent, he sat where his father would sit at the dinner table, slept in his bed, and even jokingly tried on his old armor, it wasn’t the same. But it was enough, Varian himself was enough for the two and they adored him and every single minute they spent with their nephew.

“You two ready to leave?” King Edmund asked as he approached the back of the caravan. The man’s eyes had a sadness behind them recently, like he wasn’t quite there. More so than before. Adira and Hector both took notice but didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to bring up memories that the King would probably not want to relive.

“Just have to get the kid and animals and we’re good,” Hector replied and hopped off the top of the boxes, standing next to Adira and having to stop himself from reaching out to support her. He disguised this by punching her on the shoulder instead. Edmund nodded, piping up just as the two made their way past him.

“Could you two do me a favor?” He asked softly, his tone losing its previous harshness as his shoulders sagged ever so slightly. Adira and Hector both turned cautiously, quietly agreeing and waiting. “When you see Horace, can you tell him that his father misses him? That’s all.”

Adira and Hector both bit back a snicker, having collectively forgotten the name of the Dark Prince up until that moment. They nodded quickly, said their quick “of course” and hurried along, leaving the King to his own thoughts which he spoke out loud. Once they were back inside the castle, the two lost their composure and covered their mouths to muffle their laughter.

“I can’t believe Fish Skin isn’t the worst thing to call him.” Adira mused and tucked her hands into her pockets, it felt good to laugh within these castle walls again.

“Believe me, I can think of some names worse than Horace,” Hector mumbled, his eyes narrowing slightly as he remembered their last encounter with the traitor. His eyes glanced over at Adira and softened as memories of her broken and battered on the floor returned to him. Of how he was unable to protect her when she needed him most.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Adira asked and wrinkled her nose at him, which effectively pulled Hector from his thoughts. He wrinkled his nose in return and turned away from her. Luckily the two made it to their old room before he could make a fight-inducing remark. 

The two had helped move a desk into the room for the child to work at, though they both came to regret that action as Varian seemed to only be working all the time. Whether it was a way to use the healing properties of the flower in medicine, to bring Rapunzel back or some other plan to get through to Eugene, he barely left the desk until either his aunt or uncle came to forcibly take him to dinner. Walking into the space that felt a bit more like home, the two turned to see Varian hunched over his journal with a familiar piece of parchment next to him. Both recoiled at the sighed and hesitantly walked forwards to look over his shoulder to see the Decay Incantation.

“V?” Hector asked, causing Varian to nearly jump out of his seat and dump Ruddiger, who was sleeping, out of his lap as he stood. The raccoon grumbled indignantly before scurrying outside to find his binturongs friends. Varian had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard either of them walk in, something that had been happening quite frequently as he started to lose himself to his own thoughts. Thoughts about Rapunzel, the Sundrop, the Moonstone. Thoughts about everything that had happened, everything that happened because of him. Thoughts about Eugene.

“Uh- Hi! Sorry I was- I wasn’t expecting you two yet.” He quickly started to put his things away in a hasty manner. Hector reached down and took the Decay Incantation from his grasp, now regretting packing it in the first place.

“V, what are you doing with this?” He asked as Adira stepped away to grab the Sundrop from where it sat on their nightstand. Varian snatched the paper quickly, shoving it into his journal and placing them both into his backpack.

“I just- I was thinking that maybe it could. It could save Dad.” Varian mumbled, looking down and not noticing how Adira and Hector exchanged silent glances. Sighing, Hector placed a hand on Varian’s shoulder and nodded.

“You’re a good son, Varian.” The man replied softly, seeing how Varian’s smile didn’t quite reach his blue eyes as he got up to finish his packing. He didn’t want to give the kid false hope, but he also didn’t want to completely squash his efforts. Hector’s words traveled inside one ear and out the other for Varian, how could he believe them? No son would disobey their father like that, no son would make his dad hang his head in shame every time he stepped outside. No son- no son would put a kingdom over his own father. He was a bad son, but now. Now he wasn’t even a son. And who’s fault was that?

The three were packed rather quickly after that, Varian finished cleaning up the desk with Adira’s help while Hector struggled to rein in the two binturongs who were liking their little trip back home. Eventually, he got them under control and a rather out of breath Hector closed the door to the caravan with the animals inside before climbing onto his rhino. Reaching down, he stroked the animal’s cheek.

“You’re the well-behaved sibling.” He mumbled and glanced over at Adira who was sitting at the front of the caravan with Varian at her side. The child was holding his notebook but unlike with Eugene, he had it in his lap where Adira could possibly glance over and look. For some reason, Varian didn’t feel the need to hide his failures around those two. For some reason, he didn’t feel the need to hide.

With a flick of the reigns, they were off once again to make the journey back to Corona. Hector and Adira had both expressed interest in seeing more of the kingdom that Varian had grown up. Hector hadn’t been to Corona before, only Varian’s home briefly, and the last time Adira saw it was over a decade ago. While they were interested, they were mainly trying to draw Varian’s thoughts away from Eugene, away from what had happened. Varian had just chuckled lightly but didn’t really respond. Yes, where he grew up. Where he tried and failed and messed up tragically. Where the kingdom had turned their backs on him and left him for dead. Where he had become a monster and confirmed to himself and everyone that he was too far gone to save. Home sweet home.

From within the forest, Eugene let out another cry of agony as he pushed his powers to the extremes, a large black rock around 6 feet in diameter at the base slowly pushed through the ground, toppling trees in its path. His vision grew fuzzy at the edges as he willed against his body to keep the rock moving. A voice called from behind him, causing him to gasp in relief as his concentration was broken and the pain lessened. He growled softly and looked up as the ghost girl returned through the trees.

“I think there is something you should see.” She replied softly though Eugene couldn’t help but feel agitated towards her and her seemingly good nature.

“Can’t you tell that I’m busy?” He asked with annoyance and used a hand to push back his sweat-drenched blue hair. The girl took a small step backward, something that would have usually made Eugene soften and regret his choice of words. But this was different, he had no room for sympathy of any kind. He had taken pity on the boy long ago, his innocence and desperation had touched Eugene’s heart. And look what happened. Never again.

The girl sighed and gestured towards the forest in the direction of the path. Eugene groaned but decided that he might as well, his head was already spinning from pushing himself to his limits anyways. The last time he had ignored his need for a break, well he nearly ended up like Rapunzel. Rapunzel. The name stuck in his mind, swirled around him until there was nothing else. There was nothing else, she was all that mattered, all that was good. And now she was gone. Eugene shook his head, no time to wallow in grief as he followed the ghost girl towards the forest, stopping when she held out a hand and pressed a finger to his lips. Eugene ducked behind a tree as he heard the steady clopping of horses and the gentle plod of another heavier animal. Raising an eyebrow, he peered around to see a caravan, his caravan. His icy blue eyes locked on the boy in the front seat with his journal, his stupid journal of lies. Eugene gritted his teeth and his fingers dug into the tree bark as he watched the boy laugh. He had no reason to laugh, no right to feel joy after all the pain he caused. He had no right to be happy, and Eugene would make sure of that. But how? how could he be happy when- 

The man’s eyes landed on the woman next to Varian who had just told a very funny story from what it seems. Eugene’s eyes narrowed as he turned and angrily took off into the forest, punching trees and using the black rocks to destroy once he was far enough away. How was this possible? He killed her. He took her from Varian, how did?

Eugene collapsed onto his knees in defeat as he caught his breath from using his powers, his head ached and he rubbed his blurry eyes, sitting back against a tree as the ghost girl returned. “H-how is she-”

“The boy must have figured out how to use the Sundrop’s healing abilities again.” The girl said calmly and walked over to where a defeated Eugene was sitting. He clenched his hand into a fist and shook his head.

“Why did- why didn’t he just use that for Rapunzel? Why didn’t I think of that?” He cried out in grief and punched the side of his own head in despair. The ghost girl placed a hand on his shoulder, a cool presence that caused him to look over at her.

“It wouldn’t have worked. The Sundrop would have been too weak to restore life after it had just taken on its true form once again.” The girl explained, clearly she knew more about the Sundrop than she initially let on. “And with the Princess being the embodiment of the Sundrop, it would have taken more than one measly incantation to bring her back.”

The girl started to walk away before turning her head over her shoulder. “Besides, I’m not sure if the Sundrop could have healed her. Due to the extent of the damages.”

Eugene shuttered as he remembered the large black rock that had pierced her nearly in two. He narrowed his eyes at the memory. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Varian could use the healing abilities of the Sundrop when Eugene couldn’t. It wasn’t fair that Varian could fix the damage Eugene had inflicted. He gritted his teeth and wiped a tear from his eye.

“You know,” The girl spoke up from where she had perched on a fallen log, “One could argue that Varian has already taken a piece of your newfound power.”

Eugene’s eyes lifted at this and his hand rested on the stone, it crackled under his touch and radiated a powerful energy. “What?” His voice was a low growl as he rose to his feet, having to lean back against the tree to keep from completely falling over.

“When the Sundrop was brought to the Dark Kingdom and used to heal. It used the black rocks and drew power from them.” The girl explained and slid down onto the ground. “That’s how it was able to regain it’s healing ability, by using the energy of the Moonstone.”

“So now, whatever happens to Adira and Hector. Varian will-”

“Whatever damage you inflict on the boy. Whatever you take he’ll be able to restore with the Sundrop. He’s taken back the one way you could get your revenge.” She replied and leaned back against the log. “A shame that he only started to figure out its mysteries after it concerned him.”

Crying out in anger, the man punched his fist against the tree once more. All Varian did was take and take and take. The boy took everything from him. His power, his life, his sunshine. The only way to get him to stop was to take everything that Varian loved. To show him how it felt to have absolutely nothing left to lose. The girl was right, if Varian had worked harder to figure out the Sundrop then maybe it didn’t have to come to this, maybe he could have figured something out. But he was selfish, everyone was too selfish for their own goods. They didn’t care until it concerned them. Varian didn’t care until Eugene took someone he loved. Guess he just had to do it again.

“The only way to stop him would be to take the Sundrop for yourself.” The girl suggested, grinning as she watched Eugene nod in agreement and turn to face the direction the caravan was heading. “To make sure the child wouldn’t be able to use it to selfishly undo everything you do to him.” The girl floated up as she was speaking, up and around Eugene’s head.

A smaller rock rose from the ground as Eugene shook with anger and started to walk in the direction of the caravan. “Well, I guess we’re going to Corona.”

Black rock boots crunched against the pebbles inside the cave as Eugene pushed through the vines and emerged in the clearing. The clearing. Standing before him was the large tower where he had first met her, where his life had changed forever. He narrowed his eyes as he approached and headed towards the door at the base. This would be a good place for him to hide out for the time being. To train and master his abilities, to learn to tolerate the physical pain. Lucky that the tower didn’t fall the last time they were there. It had come close but stood strong in the end. He opened the door and cautiously headed up the steps, pausing as he stopped in the main room and glanced around. She was everywhere in the room, literally. Her portraits covered every surface of the wall, every free space. He sighed and walked over to the painting she had done of herself reaching out for the lights, the lanterns. Gently brushing his fingers over the paint, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. Yes, this would be a good place to train. He could already feel the hatred bubbling in his blood just by being reminded of her.

Eugene wiped away the tears that welled up in his eyes as he remembered what had happened to her. She didn’t deserve this, to have her life stripped away from her twice. He glanced back at the spot where he was brought back to life. Where Rapunzel had begged Gothel to save him in order. Where she was willing to give up her life for his. And she did. Eventually. 

She was gone, really really gone and it was all Varian’s fault. Walking over to the broken mirror, Eugene’s harsh eyes caught his own. He almost didn’t recognize himself in the reflection. The man staring back at him was different, hardened, and changed due to betrayal. It didn’t matter. Varian had taken advantage of the goodness in his heart, of Eugene’s willingness to forgive. Rapunzel taught him to see the good in everyone, even himself. But now, with her gone, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be good at all.

While riding into Corona, Adira wasn’t too surprised when she noticed the stares and side-eyes of the crowd. She was used to that with her and Hector’s unusual appearance and the fact that they had a literal rhino with them, they were bound to get some stares. Though these seem to be more like glares, and from the way Varian shrank and curled up into her, Adira glanced over at Hector who narrows his eyes right back and growled softly at anyone’s eyes who lingered too long. Adira put an arm around Varian and allowed him to bury his face in her side as they started to hear whispers. “Where’s Eugene?” “I bet the kid turned on him” “Who are these two?”

Eventually, one loud voice came from the crowd. “They should have thrown you into prison to rot you traitor!” A random woman shouted from the crowd. Varian closed his eyes and tried not to sob, tried not to think about what they were saying. He didn’t blame them. He didn’t blame anyone for hating him and wanting him gone. In fact, he couldn’t help but agree with their sentiment. However, Adira and Hector did not. Evident by the way the caravan jerked as it was pulled over and stopped. Varian looked up to see that Hector had already hopped off his rhino and confronted the woman, weapon drawn. The boy assumed his aunt was getting up to calm Hector down like she usually did, though Adira just drew her weapon and continued the argument. They shouted about how Varian had done nothing but help them since they met him, how he had changed and how they should be ashamed of themselves for harassing a fourteen-year-old boy. Varian couldn’t help but smile just the tiniest bit and held onto Ruddiger tightly.

Eventually, the fight was broken up by the commanding voice of another woman. The crowd immediately dispersed at that sound. “Alright, what’s the issue here?” 

Varian looked up as a familiar voice caught his attention. Scrambling off the caravan, he rushed over to where Adira and Hector were hastily putting away their swords to hide the evidence. Adira had been given a different sword to replace her black one, much to her disappointment. Looking up, the Royal guard helped to direct everyone back to their homes while a woman with short black hair approached them in the Captain's uniform. Her expression widened as she saw Varian, and glanced around for Eugene.

“Cassandra!” Varian was almost excited to see a familiar face before shrinking away. Adira and Hector glanced at each other but shrugged.

“Where’s Eugene?” Cassandra replied and drew her sword, she was still suspicious of the villainous child after that had happened all those months ago. Adira narrowed her eyes and stepped between them, shoving Cassandra’s sword to one side with her hand.

“Back off Short Hair.” She growled and watched with surprise when Varian quickly put himself between them. Cassandra cautiously put her blade away.

“Please Aunt Adira jus-”

“Aunt?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow as Varian sighed and stared at the ground. He sucked in a quiet breath as he closed his eyes for a second. How could any of these people ever forgive him, especially Cassandra? After everything he did, how could they ever be friends again? He had felt that way about Eugene and even started to believe against it. Well, until he messed up once again and destroyed everything.

“It’s a long story. Can we uh- talk on the way to the castle?” The boy asked softly, Cassandra looked taken aback by this. Where was the villainous child that had threatened to destroy Corona and killed her best friend? What had happened?

She found out quickly enough, sat next to Adira on the caravan while they traveled to the castle. Varian had moved inside to give them room and was explaining while trying to give attention to two binturongs and Ruddiger at the same time. By the time they got to the castle steps she had been briefed on the entire story, and to Varian’s surprise, offered her support to him on his journey.

“Hey, you’re not the same kid that left Corona all those months ago.” She replied, clearly things had changed for Cassandra as well. The woman had been promoted to Captain of the Royal Guard and in those months grew a lot happier as she proved herself to everyone around her. She had also learned to assess the situation before diving in headfirst, and to also let go of past grudges in order to complete bigger, more important, tasks. They had both grown and changed over the months. 

Varian smiled gratefully and the three waited outside the throne room after taking the animals to the stables. Minus Ruddiger who stayed around Varian’s neck. Hector had protested this but Varian mumbled about how a rhino wouldn’t do well around the fragile decor in the castle. As they waited outside, another familiar face strolled up. Varian had first seen him on wanted posters next to the infamous Flynn Rider. It hurt just to think of the man’s face. Varian pushed the thought away as Lance seemed to look right past him. Right past at his aunt as she scolded Hector for sitting on a small table.

“That’s for vases, Hector! Are you a vase?” She had spoken to him with exasperation as he shrugged and laid across it.

“Who’s to say?” The man gave her a wicked grin as she hit her palm against her forehead and turned to talk to Varian instead. Sometimes Hector’s antics got to her, which made him ecstatic. Cassandra had told Lance all about what happened before she went into the throne room, so the man wasn’t too concerned when his two daughters ran up to them.

Adira took a small step back as two children younger than Varian swarmed her, resisting the urge to fight as they bombarded her with questions and tugged at her hand, marveling at her tattoo. She looked to Hector for some kind of help as she held her hands up and backed away from them. Hector just snicked from where he was watching.

“H-hey Hey girls! Leave the nice lady alone!” Their dad called out to them and to Varian’s surprise, the two girls listened and hurried back over to Lance who took both their hands. To keep them from running off. Lance gave Varian a nod before his awestruck smile returned, walking past the boy, he flushed slightly looking at Adira.

“I- uh-” He stammered as his two children giggled softly. “I’m Lance, who a-”

“I’m Adira.” She replied and glanced over at Varian, smiling when Varian gave Lance a nod of approval. Her eyes drifted down to the two girls, then to the man who was still staring at her. His mouth opened but no words came out.

“Ugh, kids.” Hector muttered softly and didn’t even have to turn around to sense Adira’s glares. Lance glanced over at Hector and back to Adira before his shoulders sagged slightly.

“Right I uh- Sorry to bother you and your boyfriend, Miss Adira.” He replied and turned to leave until he was stopped by Adira’s snort. Turning around, he saw that she had covered her mouth to stop from howling with laughter, her eyes even a little teary. When they were younger someone would always imply that two of the three would get together, what a ridiculous notion.

“Boy- Boyfriend?” She eventually cried out and dissolved into another fit of giggles, Hector rolled his eyes but was also losing it over the idea. Them? Dating? It was enough to make Hector laugh so hard he fell off the table with a thump, not even caring as he made no attempt to muffle his delight. Varian had a goofy grin on his face as he walked past Lance’s infatuated self and over to the man on the floor.

“I- I’m sorry I just assume-” Lance sputtered out, smiling softly at the fact that he made this, this amazing woman laugh. He made her laugh, and she had a beautiful laugh.

“I’d never.” She eventually said, still having that little grin on her face as Hector mumbled on about how she should be flattered. Lance just smiled and rested one hand on the back of his neck, the hand that was previously hanging onto Catalina.

“Oh well then I- I guess I’ll see you around?” Lance asked and beamed when Adira nodded, walking away after Catalina had tugged on his shirt. The girls were going out that day and were eager to have some fun.

Once Lance was out of earshot Hector got up and leaned against Adira, who wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Oooooo! Looks like someone has a fan.” He said in a teasing manner that didn’t waver when Adira shoved him off of her a little more roughly than intended.

“Shut up- He was just being nice.” She replied a little indignantly as Varian wanted the two, not really knowing that to say as they behaved like children. He loved that about them.

“He wasn’t that nice to me,” Hector muttered and earned himself a smack to the back of the head, again a little harder than usual. He growled softly and put a hand there to dull the pain. Walking in front of Adira, he grinned at her flushed face.

“You just have a way with men, Sister. You make them feel things. It’s not your fault.” He rested his elbow on her shoulder and snickered. “For example, you make me feel all sorts of things.” Adira raised an eyebrow as she pushed him off of her. “Rage, annoyance, the irresistible urge to deck someone.”

“I’m feeling that urge as well.” She hissed loudly and started to draw her blade before Varian waved her down. “Hey hey! It’s okay! So Lance has a crush, it could be a short-lived one. Not that Adira even feels the same way.” He spoke from experience which seemed to calm Adira down.

“You’re right Varian,” Adira replied and sighed softly, ruffling the child’s hair. “Smart. Unlike someone.”

“Your face is red.” Hector teased and poked her cheek, only for her to grab his hand and resisted the urge to flip him then and there. She eventually let go, much to Hector’s disappointment.

“Half of my face is red, Hector,” Adira replied calmly and turned away, feeling how warm her face was and wishing that it wasn’t. She shook her head at herself, Adira wouldn’t even have realized that the man liked her if it wasn’t for Hector pointing it out, she wouldn’t have even considered it.

“You know what I mean Sister, you’re not that dumb,” Hector remarked and started to walk away, if Cassandra hadn’t emerged from the throne room as soon as she did, there would have been blood. Adira and Hector quickly put away their weapons and went to chat amongst themselves as Cassandra approached Varian. Varian shrunk away, this was it. He was going to be charged with his crimes and thrown into prison. Adira and Hector were going to forget about him and- and he’d be forgotten once again.

“So they don’t want to see you-” Cassandra started and pressed her lips together.

“Don’t blame them,” Varian muttered in response and shrugged, waiting for the verdict already. How could they ever forgive him after he killed their daughter? How could anyone ever forgive him for the monster he was?

“But they wanted to thank you for your efforts and apologize.” Varian looked up in surprise, not expecting that. Ruddiger chittered happily in his ear at the and ran off of him, down his leg and over to Hector who was trying not to be killed by Adira’s death glare.

“For?” Varian and Cass stared at each other for a while. They both knew for what, but Varian subtly believed that he didn’t deserve this. This apology, this act of kindness.

Cassandra cleared her throat and went on. “Everything considered, they’d like to offer both you and your family a place in the castle. To stay and work to figure out how to use the Sundrop’s power for good and to defeat Fitz-Herbert.” She still couldn’t believe what had happened to Eugene, what had happened on their entire journey.

Varian slowly connected the dots and looked up at her. “They just want to be able to have the royal guard subtly keep an eye on me, don’t they?” He asked softly, not even angry at the idea. It was a valid idea, a good one considering his danger to society. Cassandra hesitantly nodded and watched as Varian sighed but agreed.

“Okay so- I can show you to your room-”

“Actually I uh, I need to take care of something first,” Varian replied and ran a hand through his hair, glancing back over at Adira, then Hector, then at his backpack on the floor with the Sundrop inside. “There’s a promise that I need to keep.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An// No thoughts, just Brotherhood family dynamic

**Author's Note:**

> AN// Congrats! You've made it to the end!! Again feedback is appreciated and let me know if I should actually continue. Feel free to harass me about it or something  
> Again, I have no idea how to use Ao3 but uh- please share this around? If you want of course. Idk it just motivates me when I get feedback


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